Culling the Beast
by spankingfemfatale
Summary: This is based on the T.V. series Once Upon a Time, as an alternate ending to the episode where Bell and Rumpelstiltskin are depicted as Beauty and the Beast. Sometimes love can conquer all. WARNING! Contains spanking!
1. Breaking the Curse

A Valentine's Day collaboration by my hubby and I! (My plot, his lovely words! *evil grin* =D

This is based on the T.V. series Once Upon a Time, as an alternate ending to the episode where Belle and Rumpelstiltskin are depicted as Beauty and the Beast. Sometimes love can conquer all. WARNING! Contains spanking!

Dedicated to my beautiful wife Jenna, of course, enjoy!

Belle paused at the grand oaken doors that heralded the entrance to Rumpelstiltskin's castle fortress, her eyes still damp with newly cried tears. In that moment of hesitancy was spelled her intense desire not to leave the home of the man everyone else called a monster.

Belle crossed her arms around her chest as she glanced back to see that he had not followed. She knew what he felt even if he denied it to himself, but if he was going to push her away because he was too cowardly to take a chance…

Belle's foot started to move toward the door, her hand reaching for the handle, but she paused again as a furious thought took hold of her; she didn't really have anything to go back to. She didn't want the life that awaited her on the other side of that door, not her arranged marriage to Gaston nor the confinement of a princess' birthright.

Belle clenched her fists as she stood there at the threshold of the life her and Rumpelstiltskin could have had if it wasn't for his ridiculous notions. It was as if he felt that once she got to know him, that she would suddenly cease feeling the way she did now.

Belle felt the tears still wending their way down her cheeks, but she cried in vain since without reciprocation, her love was for naught. Without a clear understanding of what she intended to do but driven by the powerful feelings tearing at her and wanting to escape her confusion, Belle stormed back the way she had come, finding Rumpelstiltskin where she had left him in her old 'room'.

He looked surprised to see her return, and she wordlessly took hold of his hand, pulling the surprised man along behind her as she headed into the foyer, "Belle… what are you doing?"

Belle's face was composed, now, a look of seriousness permeating her features, "If I can't convince you of what I know to be true with words, then I'll have to find another means to bring you around."

Rumpelstiltskin's face registered only confusion as she sat heavily on a large couch within, and he seemed only more perplexed when she folded her hands upon her knee and looked up at him levelly, "I wish to strike a deal."

The golden man stared at her for some time before raising an eyebrow, his expression curious, "You want to make a deal with me?"

Belle nodded, "It goes like this; I am allowed one hour to prove to you that you aren't turning away from me simply to retain your power. If I fail I will leave and never again shadow your doorstep."

Rumpelstiltskin's face contorted in a strange look, "You just want another opportunity to plant a kiss on me and remove me of what is mine!"

Belle shook her head, "I promise I shall not engage in any form of romantic persuasion, you have my word."

The wiry-haired man tilted his head to the side as he pursed his lips and studied her a moment, and then finally said, "Very well; we have a deal. What do you feel you can possibly say now to sway me?" "By the way," he said before she had a chance to respond, sweeping an arm out to indicate a large clock on the wall, "You now have less than an hour."

Belle smiled at him tightly, "Conversation has failed me already, I already told you I seek another route. Come." With that Belle patted her knee, looking up at Rumpelstiltskin expectantly.

Rumpelstiltskin gave her an incredulous look, as if she had suddenly gone mad, "What?"

Belle indicated that he was to come closer, "I wish for you to lie down across my lap."

Confusion colored Rumpelstiltskin's face until sudden understanding lighted his features, followed by a look of outrage, "You can't seriously mean to do that!"

Belle frowned up at him, "We have a deal, and there is no romance involved in this discipline; now come over here."

Rumpelstiltskin's face turned red as he became flustered, "But why? To what end would hitting me serve other than to make me very angry? Besides, what makes you think I deserve this disc…?"

Belle gave him a look and Rumpelstiltskin changed his thought mid-sentence, "Okay, I haven't exactly been the straightest of arrows, but," The golden-skinned man drew up to his full height and gave her a righteous look, "I have always been fair to you."

Belle narrowed her eyes at him, "You have, but concerning the change in our relationship you have been decidedly selfish."

Rumpelstiltskin grew quiet, unable to argue with her on this, since whether what he had earlier stated was true or if she was right and he was a coward, he was painted self-serving either way. "Then this is really just about you punishing me for hurting you…" He smiled, "I must say I've never heard of so mild a revenge plot."

Belle gave him a confident smile of her own, "It's revelation I seek more so than retribution, but my motives shouldn't matter anyways, since we have made a deal, yes?"

Rumpelstiltskin's eyebrow twitched and he frowned deeply, "You're wasting your time and aggravating me, the former I care little about but the latter is quite dangerous…"

Belle met his gaze evenly, "I'll take my chances. Now get on my lap, or are you so afraid of this princess?"

Rumpelstiltskin's frown deepened, but he quietly moved over to her, stopping one more time as he leaned in close to her, "Are you sure you want to do this?"

Belle was scared by the darkness that swelled in him, constantly flitting back and forth behind his strange eyes, but she showed him her bravest face, "I will need you to pull your britches down as well."

The golden-skinned man barred his teeth at her request, but after shooting a dagger-like glare at the princess, he reached back and pulled his pants down to expose an equally golden ass. Belle wasted no time, reaching an arm around his waist to secure him as she brought her hand down on his naked cheeks as hard as she could, her palm flat as it struck.

Despite having expected the blow, Rumpelstiltskin breathed out heavily, his face never-the-less registering surprise at the sudden swatting. As Belle continued to strike him he grabbed hold of the couch, wincing and still a little shocked.

As it quickly became clear that she meant to punish him as severely as her stronger-than-expected arms would allow, Rumpelstiltskin glanced back at her angrily, "I knew it; you only made this deal to humiliate me in addition to your attempt to assassinate my powers!"

Belle bit her bottom lip, checking her own emotion before responding, "This part is to show you how much hurt your cowardice has caused me. Would someone who wasn't in love with you care this much about your rejection?"

Rumpelstiltskin snarled at both her and the stinging pain she continued to cause him, "Still you continue your ruse! You can never win, though, and I bid you remember that your hour winds down, our contract binding you to leave, forever."

The man in her lap gasped as Belle kept the swatting steady regardless of the painful words he lobbed at her. She could only pray he came around in time, but she would not show him either her desperation or her worry; he must see only the strength of her conviction.

As time wended on Rumpelstiltskin could not help but to look at the clock periodically, helpless but to note that it seemed the hands of the device seemed to move more slowly between each glance. He tucked his face behind an arm as he grunted his extreme discomfort and annoyance.

Over time, however, annoyance turned into surprised dread. Rumpelstiltskin twisted as best he could to observe that Belle was panting, a bead of sweat on her forehead marking the strain of her efforts, "Do you derive some sick joy from doing this to me?" He tittered unstably, "And they call me the monster!"

Belle frowned and looked at him, but did not lose a beat in swatting him uniformly. "Perhaps as this continues, to the very end of my time if it must, you will realize that I'm not going to quit on you."

Rumpelstiltskin stared at her with wide eyes, taking in sharp breaths as her palm kept coming down, his body writhing in her grip. He went back to staring at the clock, his expression blank as he thought out how much she was planning on putting him through.

Only a scant few minutes had passed, and meeting the duration of an hour would take very long indeed when the golden man's cheeks already burned as if on fire from her ministrations. Rumpelstiltskin gripped the couch more tightly and hissed at the prospect of enduring the entire time limit, but he had made a deal…

Never before had someone used a contract specifically to injure him until now, not even the hardhearted Queen. If it was simply meant to make him suffer, then that would place  
>Belle as one of the most evil creatures he had ever encountered…<p>

Rumpelstiltskin shook his head, looking back at Belle and for the first time since she started this exercise allowing himself to see the strained hope that marked her face so clearly behind her pretended confidence.

But hope to do what, to succeed in fulfilling her master's wish? Rumpelstiltskin barred his teeth at the thought of losing to her, but memories of how Belle had been pushed into his thoughts; the kindness in her eyes when she had asked about his lost family, the timidity of her voice when she had accidentally broken his tea cup that he had immediately marked as so very innocent…

All tricks, he thought. They could all be clever ploys and deceptions. Rumpelstiltskin glanced at the clock, seeing that he still had better than a half-hour to go. He clenched his teeth and cried out in rage, using his anger at the betrayal to spurn him to the finish.

It all fell away when he glanced back at Belle, though. Gone was her facade of strength, her show of force lacking all of its previous confidence as it seemed her hope waned, and she wept openly. The anger slid from Rumpelstiltskin's face; no one could fake such tears, he truly felt he looked into her soul now, and what he saw was the same thing he had seen before at the loom.

She loved him, despite his appearance or what he had done; this woman had grown fond of him. The greatest lie that protected him unraveling, Rumpelstiltskin turned his face away from her, not wanting her to see his own tears, which sprung up suddenly, as if a dam within him had been broken.

Sensing what he felt, not needing to hear his words to validate what had been realized, Belle stopped hitting him and pulled him close, both sobbing now. Rumpelstiltskin laughed a bit manically, "You are such a foolish girl to choose a monster over a life of luxury and freedom."

Belle turned to look at him, smiling as she leaned far enough to grab the corner of a heavy cloth that draped over one of Rumpelstiltskin's hidden full-length mirrors. She pulled hard at it and the cloth slid away, revealing the two of them reclined on the couch.

Rumpelstiltskin's brow was creased at confusion as to why she would have done such a thing until he realized belatedly that his skin had returned to a natural color. He brought a hand to his face, touching the soft skin there dazedly.

Rumpelstiltskin leapt to his feet suddenly and looked about at Belle wildly, who stared at him worry, "Is everything alright?"

"Alright?" he grabbed her hands in his and spun them both around as he Bellowed laughter, stopping a moment to awkwardly pull his pants back up as they threatened to drop to his feet. "I'm fantastic! It's gone, it's finally gone!"

Belle smiled at him and Rumpelstiltskin gave her an odd look, "I thought we had to share true love's kiss to break the curse though…"  
>Belle's smile widened as she narrowed her eyes at him, "We already have, but why don't we do it again just to be safe?"<p>

Rumpelstiltskin smiled back at her, his voice a low promise, "Just to be safe."

The Queen snatched a vase from a stand beside her and reared back to throw it, a cry of fury escaping her lips.

The mirror shifted from the image of Rumpelstiltskin and his new lover and reformed into the green-tinged face of a dark-skinned man, "Wait! Don't smash me! Don't smash me!"

The Queen stayed her arm just in time not to ruin the strange mirror, smashing it against the wall instead and moving to sit down angrily.

After a tense few moments the voice from inside the mirror prompted her, "Why are you upset; didn't you want him to lose his powers? Now you are the most powerful sorceress in the land!"

The Queen sulked, setting her chin upon one black-gloved hand as she mused, "Yes, but he wasn't really supposed to get to be so… happy about it. Just you wait… I'll come up with something, and my happily ever after will make them all suffer…


	2. Rumpled Fate

Another lovely chapter from my awesome husband! =D

"What's wrong, Rumple?" Belle asked, quirking a sad smile at the way he moped.

Annoyance rippled across Rumpelstiltskin's features at the nickname she had begun to call him by, though from her is was far easier to tolerate than it was from others in his past, and sadly reminded him of his late wife, who had passed from illness many years before.

Rumpelstiltskin stood up straight and admired Belle's beautiful face, deciding that all memories did not have to be held in sadness alone. "I have done… things, which I am not proud of while I was under the effects of my curse."

Belle nodded soberly, remembering herself the awful stories of the man who sat before her; a man whom much of the realm still likely believed a monster. "It will take time, but the people of the land will come to know you have shed yourself of its evil in due course."

Rumpelstiltskin shook his head, a dour expression on his face, "You don't know the half of it; if you knew what I was capable of, what I had done…" His worried eyes glanced to her, and Belle could see a unique fear in them.

Belle cupped his face in her hands, chiding him softly, "It would not change how I feel about you now; your curse spreads no shadow over my love for you."

A slight smile touched the corners of Rumpelstiltskin's mouth, and he let out a long breath, "I have so much to make amends for, and for much of it have no idea how to do so, but…" Rumpelstiltskin stood up, his confidence returning, "…I think I know where to start."

Belle followed him, curious as he skipped through the keep to the largest of the three dining halls. He moved to the center of the huge table that centered the room and carefully took the rose he had given her from the vase of water it had been put in. "I sincerely hope that clipping the stem doesn't mean we've chopped his feet off…"

Belle grew pale, "'His'? Rumple, did you…?"

Rumpelstiltskin nodded sadly, "Yes, I turned Gaston into a flower when he arrived to challenge me for your escape."

Belle put a hand over her mouth, "You have to change him back!"

Rumpelstiltskin scratched at the stubble on his chin as he held the rose up before him, studying it, "I have the knowledge of magic still but not the power to enact it any longer."

Belle moaned sadly, "Then he is doomed to wilt and die a rose?"

Rumpelstiltskin held up a finger, waggling it at her, "Nay, dearie, I said I still retain my knowledge of magic; which means I know how to get the power needed to reverse this spell."

Belle clapped her hands together, cheering in relief, "Excellent; what must we do?"  
>A shadow passed over Rumpelstiltskin's face, "Well, it is more of a 'what I must do'. It is going to be entirely too dangerous, and I wouldn't dream of risking you so soon after I have found you."<p>

Belle gave him an angry stare, "You are going to try to push me out of the adventure because you have suddenly found a sense of chivalry?"

Rumpelstiltskin backpedaled a bit, "N-no, that's not what I meant…"

Belle nodded, the decision made, "Good, then we should be off then."

Belle looked over to Rumpelstiltskin, where he crouched near to the water's edge of a shimmering, dark pool whose waters were utterly still save the light that danced upon its surface. "So what are we looking for?"

The no-longer-golden man shook his head, his brow furrowed as he gazed at the water.  
>"Something is wrong here; this water should be moving with a life of its own, but the spirit that once empowered it seems to be dead."<p>

Belle gave him a worried look, "How does a spirit die, and what does this have to do with Gaston?" As she spoke she indicated the rose she still held, all that was left of the once proud warrior.

Rumpelstiltskin gestured out at the still waters, seeming a bit put off, "Spirits like sirens, for instance, can be killed as anything else should they choose to become solid enough to, say, grab a man and pull him to his watery grave."

Rumpelstiltskin sat down on a large stone, propping a leg on his knee and crossing his arms across his chest as he thought, "I never thought an adventurer would actually kill her, must have been a woman…"

Belle sat next to him, "Were you planning on asking a siren for her help? I thought such creatures only existed to murder men, perhaps as revenge for hardships in their own  
>lives."<p>

Rumpelstiltskin nodded, "That is true; though it was the water I had come for, not her aid."

Belle gave him a curious look, "I think I understand; when she was around the water was enchanted... but how did you plan on taking her waters without being murdered yourself?"

He shrugged, "At first I planned to bully her into letting me have it since she may not have been aware that I had lost my own powers, but then once you insisted on coming along I figured I would have you retrieve the water, since I don't think her magic works on women."

Belle sighed, giving him a hopeful look, "Well, do you know where else you might gain the power you need to break Gaston's curse?"

Rumpelstiltskin shook his head but still seemed optimistic, "No, but if this siren was slain by someone actually seeking the powers of her water and not simply to attain glory for killing another monster, then some of her magic may yet remain in the world."

Belle's brow furrowed, "How do we find out who did it?"

Rumpelstiltskin smiled, "Easy; we ask a bard."

Rumpelstiltskin sat heavily on the stone steps of the Salty Raven bar, his mood sour, "Alright, so maybe not so easy."

Belle sat more gracefully beside him, "I do believe that is the last of the inns and taverns in the area; shall we travel further?"

Rumpelstiltskin shook his head, frowning, "No… if the bards here have heard nothing, the chance that our 'hero' has boasted elsewhere is too remote to waste any more time on…" he glanced sidelong at the rose Belle still gingerly held with worry on his face, "…the rose… Gaston doesn't have much longer before he will perish; already he wilts."

Belle shared his concern, "Perhaps it was a modest noble; shall we ask those of the pond's kingdom who might have done the deed?"

Rumpelstiltskin sat quietly for a long moment before finally nodding, slowly. "Yes, I suppose the castle is close and I can think of no better options. You speak though, and I will wait outside; the nobility of Midas' court might recognize me."

Belle glanced over to the blonde woman in rich garments whose gaze flitted down the corridor before quickly shutting the door behind them, "Why all of this secrecy?"

Finally seeming to feel as if they were unseen the woman let out a long breath and gave a small, tight smile of apology, "I beg your forgiveness for pushing you around like this, but what you are asking after risks my secret love."

Belle raised a curious eyebrow, "What exactly happened to the siren of that lake, then?"

The woman pushed a lock of hair behind her ear and smiled nervously, "My name is Abigail; I am King Midas' daughter, and I seek to marry the knight Frederick. But… if my father finds out that I convinced Prince James to help me restore Frederick and then to vanish himself, annulling our engagement, my father would be furious, and likely forbid me to marry my true love."

Belle paused a moment, absorbing the details. "So Prince James slew the siren, giving you the enchanted water to free Frederick from whatever curse he suffered?"

Abigail nodded, still looking distraught, "You won't tell anyone will you? It was everything I could do to get him to allow a knight to court me! He still haggles over choosing another kingdom's prince to marry me, and…"

Belle held out her hands, smiling softly at Abigail, and shaking her head, "I would not dream of damaging your marriage; I only came to see if you still had some of the water you used to free Frederick. After the siren died her magic drained from the lake forever."

Abigail looked both relieved and sobered, "I feel guilt now that we have removed such a useful healing power from the land, but at least she slays no longer. Prince James brought several bags of the water back from his quest, and I will gladly give you what you need."

Belle smiled at her, "Bless you, Abigail, you have saved one man's life and offered another salvation."

Gaston continued to point his sword levelly as he finished his sentence, "… your last breath on this mortal coil…"

Gaston blinked stupidly as he realized that not only was he no longer pointing his sword at anyone, but that he was in an entirely different place than where he had been standing only a moment before, "What sorcery is this?"

Rumpelstiltskin answered from his seat across the way, "It was some of the dark and somewhat mischievous kind, but you'll find I no longer employ it, and in fact have released you from the curse I had placed on you."

Gaston turned to face Rumpelstiltskin, his sword shaking slightly but still leveled, "You cursed me? Prepare to die, villain…"

"He didn't have to…" Gaston turned to see that Belle stood across from him, wearing a black cloak that had hidden her in the shadows of night, "…and no one but him knew that you were cursed to begin with. Rumple was acting under his own curse when you fought before and now he has saved you from yours."

Gaston paused a moment, running his other hand along his tunic, "I'm soaked in water…"

His gaze returned to Belle, "This beast has obviously fooled you with his magic." He turned his attention once more to Rumpelstiltskin, his eyes filled with resolve, "You will prey on weak women no longer, fiend!"

Gaston lunged at Rumpelstiltskin, his sword leading the thrust, but the smaller man cried out in surprise and snatched an iron candle-holder from the table, catching Gaston's sword between two of its three prongs and twisted it violently to wrench to sword from his attacker's hand.

Gaston roared in anger and kicked the seated man in the chest, sending Rumpelstiltskin falling backwards as he dashed for the weapon. Belle reached it first, though, and pointed it defiantly at Gaston, "Stop this! He means you no harm; he just wants to make things right!"

Gaston sneered, "You are so gullible to his deceptions! Do you have any idea what this monster has done? The only mercy for him is a swift death…" Gaston moved closer to her, "You wouldn't strike me, Belle; I know you."

Belle frowned, and then tossed the sword to Rumpelstiltskin, who now stood on the other side of Gaston. "No, but I won't watch you attack an unarmed man; if you wish to pursue quarrel with Rumple, try it with the shoe on the other foot."

Gaston raged at her, "You fool! He has powerful magic!" Gaston looked shaky but brought his hands up defensively and side-stepped toward Rumpelstiltskin.

Rumpelstiltskin shook his head, "My magic is no more, do you see the tone of my skin, do you hear the quality of my voice? My madness is gone from me."

Gaston licked his lips, glancing between them, "Perhaps fate smiles on me, then, and the playing field is leveled. Without your magic you are nothing; and I will take my sword from you, kill you, and restore Belle to her rightful place at my side."

Rumpelstiltskin raised the sword and shook his head, a hard look in his eyes, "You try that and you will die, son. I was a soldier before I ever wielded my curse, and I won't just roll over for a green royal like you. You have never even been in a war, have you?"

Gaston stared at him a long time, his fists clenched in rage, and at last he began to back away from them both, towards the chamber door, "This isn't the last of it; I will bring the legions of our king and you will die by my hand, I swear it!"

A sad look crossed Rumpelstiltskin that broke Belle's heart to look upon, "I know."


	3. The Quest

My hubby knows how to keep me happy :P

Queen Regina sat upon a throne of ebony, a piece stylized to her own personal taste and replacing the boring standard golden throne her deceased husband had kept in the palace.

Her throne spoke of power, but today as she leaned back into it she did not feel the sense of control she typically enjoyed while sitting in it.

Her power play against Rumpelstiltskin had succeeded, but something about the easy way he let losing all of his sorcerous might roll off of his shoulder bothered her in ways she didn't even understand. In addition to that, she had battled Maleficent, stealing back the most powerful curse ever created from the other sorceress, but the curse had failed!

Regina drummed her black fingernails on the armrest as she thought. She had played out the ritual exactly as the spell books suggested, even given up the life of her most precious horse as a reagent to fuel its unholy power, but… nothing. Nothing whatsoever had happened.

Regina felt a creeping impotent rage swelling within her, her frustration mounting as she recalled how she had promised her enemies such vengeance and now it was coming to nothing. Her frown vanished slowly as she thought of the only one who might know what she had done wrong.

Regina smiled, in fact; Rumpelstiltskin would be easy to convince now that he was powerless, and now she had good reason to make his life exquisitely miserable.

"You can't seriously mean to do this!" Belle tugged on Rumpelstiltskin's arm but he maintained his steady pace, walking down the dusty road towards the castle.

Rumpelstiltskin gave her a meaningful look, "I have to; in time they will come for me, and I have no recourse to evade your father's armies forever. I have a bad leg and no magic… besides; I don't really want to hurt anyone when apprehending me would only be justice."

Belle couldn't believe that he was giving up so easily, and anger flashed over her features, "You're being a coward again, what happened to the man I saw back there that caused even arrogant Gaston to back down?"

Rumpelstiltskin paused and shook his head at her, sadness in his eyes, "You don't understand; every fiber of me wants to run, but that would be the coward's way. I vowed never to run again, since running is what made me lose my son…"

Belle saw the pain in Rumpelstiltskin's eyes and calmed, seeing that his choice was fueled by strong regret. "At least consider other options; we can think of something…"

Rumpelstiltskin shook his head again, "I said I wanted to make things right, but if I don't face those I've hurt, then already I am a liar."

Belle's throat tightened at his words, which though noble and true would certainly lead to her lover's death. "I… I don't know if I can bear to see you do this…"

Rumpelstiltskin took her hands in his, squeezing them tightly as he gave her a small, strained smile, "I am scared witless, perhaps we can enjoy being terrified together knowing that at least for once in my miserable life, I'm doing something right. If I don't do this…"

Rumpelstiltskin looked at her, the innocence in her face, "If I don't do this, then I truly won't deserve you. Will you speak on my behalf to your father, so that throwing myself upon his mercy might not end in my death?"

Belle bit her bottom lip, staring at him in desperation a long time before answering, "I will."

Rumpelstiltskin slammed into the hard stone of the dungeon with a grunt, twisting in his bonds to see his jailors sneer and spit at him as they shut the iron door to his new prison. The former sorcerer crawled on the floor as best he could with both feet and hands tied until he could inch himself into a sitting position against the wall.

Rumpelstiltskin let out a deep breath, taking stock of his many bruises and the rank, fetid nature of his new home, "Well, that could have gone better, but at least they didn't kill me outright."

A raspy voice sounded from somewhere in the dark around him, "No, but after a while, you will wish they had."

When the door opened again, Rumpelstiltskin shielded his face from the blinding torchlight that came from the other side, the last several days making his eyes more comfortable with the dark than any form of light. When he heard his visitor's voice, though, Rumpelstiltskin's spirits soared.

"Oh, Rumple, have they not been feeding you?" Belle crouched down next to him and ran a comforting hand through his matted, wiry hair.

Rumpelstiltskin smiled at her, "Three square meals a day, dearie, and occasionally the hard bread is garnished with the most delightful mold. Has your father the King made a decision yet?"

Belle grew ghostly quiet and Rumpelstiltskin nodded soberly, "That bad, eh?"

Belle shook her head, obviously trying to appear hopeful but wearing the face of despair nonetheless, "Father is sated with telling me that I am fortunate he spared your life, I believe he is more prone to believe Gaston's account of my seduction by your magic than the truth."

Rumpelstiltskin nodded again, "Ironic that my reputation is what shall slay me…" he leaned forward and took Belle's hand, his voice cracking with his raw emotion, "Even more than all the other heinous things I've done, I regret most the heartbreak I see on your face now… I am sorry, Belle."

Tears coursed down Belle's face as she leaned close, pressing her forehead to his and whispering vehemently, "I'm not going to give up on you! There has to be some way that I can help you… please, Rumple, don't confine me to this fate, tell me what I can do to free you."

Rumpelstiltskin stared into her pleading eyes in silence, finally nodding, "I understand; tell your father that Rumpelstiltskin has chosen you as his champion according to the laws of the land, and that through you I shall defeat the Dark Queen herself, freeing him forever of her tyranny."

Belle took a shark breath and stared at him with wide eyes. That hope existed was surprise enough, but Belle felt the blossom of her love for this man growing even larger for the simple fact that no other man had ever entrusted her with something so important, something that require she step beyond her role of princess and become something greater.  
>Belle nodded and kissed his forehead, turning at one to inform the King that Rumpelstiltskin would trade a quest for his freedom.<p>

"This is absurd! Rumpelstiltskin would affront me further with such a ridiculous notion…" the King at back into his throne, rubbing his temple with one hand as he thought on Belle's words.

Gaston stepped forward, his own face incredulous, "None dare defy the Black Queen and to even suggest that and to even suggest that you be the one to do it…" Gaston rolled his eyes and waved dismissively, "…I'm not sure if it's just an open act of insult upon our lord's intelligence or an actual foolhardy attempt to send gullible Belle to her death."

Bell's jaw worked in anger but she kept her retort to herself, addressing her father again instead, "My King… father, according to the law I am now Rumpelstiltskin's champion, and all we ask is the chance to do something good as proof of his goodwill."

The King shook his head, massaging his temple further, obviously vexed, "Belle, I have allowed your misplaced love to go this far, but I cannot in sound mind allow you to risk yourself and this kingdom by stirring up trouble with the Black Queen."

Belle swallowed her anger, working hard at it against Gaston's knowing smirk. She took a deep breath and spread her palms open in a gesture of defeat, "Then what would I need to prove to you that we have what it takes to defeat her?"

The King leaned forward in his throne to gaze down at her, his face grim, "The Queen has armies, as do I, but hers are led by a huntsman, whose reputation stands tall as a man without fear. He is said to be devoid of compassion, a lethal killer who sweeps across the battlefield like the reaper. Bring me someone of such merit to lead my armies and I shall consider it."

Gaston laughed outright and Belle shot him a withering glare before addressing the King again, "As you say, so it shall be done." With that, she bowed and left the throne room, doing her best to hide her despair.

"Is that all?"

Belle glanced at Rumpelstiltskin with surprise, "You know someone of such renown that I might draft into so dangerous a mission?"

Rumpelstiltskin smiled and nodded, "Indeed… and you will be given the opportunity to help me right another wrong in order to gain his help. Visit with Abigail, and procure more enchanted water; the tricky part is going to be finding the person you're going to use it on."

"You didn't have to come along; are you sure you want to go in there?" Belle looked to Abigail, who stared at the dark tunnel with similar concern on her face.

Abigail waved off the notion, "I'm fine; as far as I know the dwarves are harmless folk."

She glanced back to Belle, "Besides, I heard through the local nobility what you're up to, and I want to help. The Queen has hurt so many people in this land, almost as many as that monster Rumpelstiltskin, and she needs to be taken down."

Belle jumped at her lover's name, and opened her mouth to defend him, but closed it again, realizing this wasn't the place or time. Without another word she extended her torch into the cavern and descended, Abigail following.

After a while, the light of the entrance behind them faded and only the torch provided its acrid illumination. Belle wiped at her brow, the heat of the place stifling, "I wonder why it's so hot underground like this?"

Abigail shook her head and started to reply, but a gruff voice somewhere out in the darkness answered instead, "Because you're close to the forge now. Why are you here?"  
>But women jumped, and Belle licked her lips before answering, "We are looking for someone, and Red said she would be somewhere in the mines. Do you know where we can find Snow White?"<p>

A solidly built dwarf with dark hair and beard emerged into the light of their torch, a miners picked help menacingly in both hands, "What's she to you?"

Belle pulled forth the vial of water that they had brought, holding it up so the dwarf could see it, "We want to help her. My name is Belle, and I need her memory to defeat the Queen."

The dwarf snorted, "Boy, you are a dreamer. For all I know you're here to put her back in prison; get lost."

Abigail smiled at the dwarf, "What is your name?"

The dwarf answered simply, "Grumpy."

Abigail faltered, "Well, I know that, but what is your…"

The dwarf seemed even more agitated, "My name is Grumpy."

Abigail apologized, "Oh, well, Grumpy, we are not only trying to cure Snow White… we want to reunite her with her prince, whose location I know of."

The dwarf paused, and then sniffed, "Stay here." The squat figure strode off into the gloom and the two women looked at each other, each seeing the hope in the other's eyes.


	4. Big Problems

James sat on a grassy knoll, looking out at the setting sun and resting his sore limbs. He glanced over at his horse, Whitemane, and gave the beast a pat on the muzzle, smiling wearily. "I'm sorry old girl; this must be much more travel than the usual for you. Once we find her I promise to return you to your owners at the castle."

James stared out at the beautiful array of color splayed out on the horizon, "Too bad I'm not really a prince…" he glanced over at the horse, stroking her neck as she nuzzled him, "…I've always wanted a horse like you."

"Is that why your 'father' the King said you are not his son? Why did he care so much who you married, if you weren't even his son?"

James whipped around quickly to see who approached, his hand resting on the hilt of his sword as he turned to look. Snow walked out of the shade of a nearby tree, Abigail and another woman he didn't know following behind.

James couldn't believe his eyes, and leaped up to run to her, "Snow, you know me for who I am? Abigail, is this your handiwork?"

Snow nodded, smiling, and Abigail answered, "I helped, but the person who knew how to find your soul mate was Belle here."

James turned to Belle, bowing deeply, "I'm forever in your debt, milady."

Belle returned his open smile of joy, though hers was more restrained, "Well, I hate to call upon such a debt so soon after you have been reunited, but I need your help as well..."

Patrons of the court moved aside, whispers leading the advance of Belle's small group as they walked into the throne room. No one was more surprised than the King when Belle bowed and turned to introduce their new guest, "I present to you Prince James, slayer of dragons, sirens, and a host of other monsters, heralded near and far for his exploits and come to lead your army into war, father."

James shot Belle a look at the embellishment, but puffed out his chest and did his best to look regal and powerful regardless of how he felt about the masquerade.

The King simply stared wide-eyed a moment, finally gesturing for his councilors to move close and advise him. James prayed no one saw the nervous sweat on his brow as he continued to try to seem imposing.

The advisors to the King whispered for several minutes until he seemed content with what they had to say and waved them back once more. "Prince James; we have heard of your deeds even here, though rumors circulate concerning you. Some say you are slain and others that you disappeared suddenly against your father's wishes."

James nodded and smiled as sincerely as he could, "Well as you see me standing before you I assure you I am no ghost, and my own father has much to gain from the Black Queen's death."

The King gazed at him a moment and then nodded, "I invite you to enjoy my hospitality, but I regret to inform you that I have no intention of assaulting the Queen; it would be an act of folly, and I will not be responsible for sending your father's only son to his death."

Belle spoke up, "You said that if I found a leader for our armies you would march on her!"

The King glared at Belle, silencing her protest, "I stated no such thing. I said if we were to stand a chance against her armies we would need an equal to the huntsman. While it is true that you have secured the aid of such a hero, we still do not have the might of a sorceress who commands the Leviathan itself to crush her foes."

Belle clenched her hands, staring back at her father rigidly, "Then what else do you demand?"

The King sat back, frowning, "The Leviathan is a beast so vast it is said that it can swallow an entire platoon of soldiers in one bite of its fearsome jaws." He scratched his chin, evidently deciding how he could discourage his daughter's further attempts, "Prove that you can control a beast as vast as it is and I will believe we can defeat all of her assembled forces."

Belle stared at him with open anger, but refused to give Gaston the satisfaction of seeing her lose control over her father's impossible task. Instead she only bowed and continued to meet her father's weary expression, "Very well, father."

Belle turned to leave and James reluctantly followed. He could see when he glanced over to where Abigail stood on the edge of the crowd that he wasn't alone in feeling like something more should be done.

Belle met them both outside of the royal chambers and gave each a sad look, "I'm sorry to have mixed you up in this affair, but before we give up hope, I need to visit… a friend. Meet me back here in one hour?"

Both royals nodded and Belle smiled as brightly as she could at them before heading to see Rumpelstiltskin down in the castle dungeons.

"Your name is Jack, isn't it?"

The gangly young man turned at Belle's voice and looked at the strange group of nobles that had suddenly appeared on his simple field. He set his hoe aside and squinted at them, pursing his lips, "Aye, madam… how come a lady such as yourself would even know to ask?"

Belle smiled at finding the right boy and she practically leapt from her saddle, "I've spoken to Rum…" she glanced furtively at her two companions, who also were dismounting, "…I've spoken to the man who gave you those beans, you know, the magic ones?"

A cloud passed over Jack's face, sullen anger replacing the awe of being visited by three nobles, "He got me into a whole lick of trouble! Rump…!"

Belle cut in quickly, "He sent me to ask for his side of the deal. He also wanted me to let you know how sorry he is that they ended up sprouting in your garden like that, and regrets not telling you exactly what they did before you returned home with them."

Jack screwed his face up in a look of consternation and disbelief, "He did? Well…" Jack looked Belle up and down, still suspicious, "What kind of favor do you want then?"

Belle smiled at him, "Okay, this gets a little complicated, but if you work with us, I can assure you that by the power of three royal families, you will never have to work this field again."

Belle glanced around as they reached the top of the huge beanstalk. Almost as soon as Jack had thrown it onto the ground, the seedling had sprouted and grown to monstrous size. The climb had been wearying, and Belle had some respect for the way that Jack effortlessly scrambled along the giant foliage.

Pausing to catch her breath, Belle did her best to take in their strange surroundings. Despite the fact that reason told her it was impossible, here they were high up in the sky and instead of more clouds, they had climbed through a crack in the floor of a gigantic house.

The others seemed no less amazed, everyone staring at the enormous chairs and colossal bed. A distant rumble of thunder set an ominous tone to a home that could only house a creature of incredible size. Jack turned to Belle, whispering, "He's asleep, just like the first time I came up here. I'm having second thoughts…"

Belle patted the boys shoulder, trying to assuage his worry, even as she tried to dampen her own fear; she had thought the resonant sound that assaulted them was thunder, and now knew it to be a sleeping giant. "We have it from here if you want to climb down."

Jack nodded and went back to the stalk, though he didn't start back down it, but watched their progress as they moved closer to the bed. Belle put her hands to her mouth and shouted as loud as she could, "Giant! We want to talk to you!"

A monstrous snort echoed across the room and silence fell. All three nobles stood frozen in the tangible quiet, then suddenly a monstrous form loomed above the bed, gigantic feet swinging over the side as the giant's shadow passed over the three.

Bleary, red eyes glared down at the intruders, and the giant licked his lips sleepily before a baritone voice that shook all three to the core boomed out loudly, "Fee… Fie… Foe..." the giant shook his head, his eyes finally coming into focus as he cleared his throat to speak, "…I mean, what are you ants doing in my home; looking to be a meal?"

The giant moved closer menacingly, and Belle spoke quickly, "We want your help; if you help us slay a land fish that is very, very big to us but not so big to you, you will be able to use its meat to sate your incredible hunger for a very long time."

The giant paused, giving Belle a curious look, "What makes you think I would need your help to…" the giant's eyes narrowed and his voice grew dangerous as he leaned down, "…is that the boy who stole from me…?"

Belle took in a sharp breath, watching as things quickly got out of hand. James drew his sword, but it was obvious he didn't know where to begin with a foe of this size, Abigail cried out for Jack to run but he was already ducking back down the beanstalk.

The giant rose from the bed and James sheathed his sword, obviously realizing that a needle wouldn't stop the angry monster. The giant roared out, "Boy, I won't fall for that trick twice! It took my back a week to heal the last time, so instead I'm going to enjoy chewing on your friends slowly so you can hear it!"

The impossibly huge man planted a foot between the three and the beanstalk's leafy crown, even as he leaned down slowly, extending his hands as one does when they are going to capture a small animal. Belle pulled the sack she had tied around her back to the front, and pulled out a large golden harp, strumming it quickly.

The first cord caused the giant to freeze in place, the second to sit back on his haunches and stare at Belle dumbfounded. With each new note the giant's anger slipped away and was replaced with a serene look of pleasure. "Ooh, you play nicely."

Belle could hear both Abigail and James release a sigh of relief, and she smiled nervously, "Also, if you do this thing for us, not only will I return this harp Jack stole from you, but I agree to play it for you whenever you like until our work is done."

The giant gazed down at Belle, and she could tell that though the harp calmed him, he was in full control of his thoughts. Rumpelstiltskin had warned that the device was not a charm, but incentive. After a moment he replied, "If you will help me sleep at night with that harp, I will eat as many land fish as you want."

Word passed of what was coming long before Belle reached the throne room this time, and she was able to watch with satisfaction as her father and all of his advisors and knights crowded the parapets of the castle wall to see the enormous giant that strolled up to their gates.

Even front the high walls the King had to look up to see that the giant had three people riding on his broad shoulder, and he gaped at the strange sight of Belle playing a harp even as the goliath approached.

A councilor stepped up to the King quickly, his voice wavering, "Sire, shall we ready cavalry... perhaps catapults?"

The King shook his head dully, waving the minister away and shouting out once the broad shoulders of the giant had drawn closer, "What have you brought to our walls, Belle? Is this giant friend or foe?"

Belle stopped playing the harp and stood, smiling down at her father, "I'm certain you already know, father. Prince James stands ready to lead your armies as no man ever has, and this giant shall strike even the leviathan low; are you convinced that we can now win?"

The King continued to stare as the crowd of people who had gathered below murmured in awe. At long last he rested his hands on the stone in front of him and stated simply, "No."


	5. Guessing Guest

Belle stared at her father, but she had learned to stop expecting him to be fair, so allowed his refusal to roll off of her shoulders. Instead she just watched him, filling the air with expectation for him to go on, since one did not demand for a King to elaborate his decisions.

A hush fell over all who had assembled to watch the arrival of the giant's massive frame, all eyes to the King. The King for his part let his edict stand in silence for several moments before explaining his decision, "We could defeat every man and beast that the Queen has to throw at us, and we would still fall to her unparalleled magic."

Belle did her best not to sound argumentative, "We have wizards of the court, my King, perhaps their combined might…?"

The King shook his head, "A collection of parlor tricks, while fine for amusement, is no weapon against the very real danger the Queen's sorcery represents.

She has melted men with burning fire and murdered entire villages with plague."

Belle stayed silent, not entirely sure if those rumors were true, or in fact how dangerous the Black Queen's powers were. She hated to concede a point in her efforts now, but her father now spoke of the largest threat they would be facing. "We have resources now to tell us her limits and give us the means to counter…"

The King waved her comment off, "Your 'resources'; the dread Rumpelstiltskin, is no weapon of which I with entrust my faith."

Belle felt desperation creeping into her heart despite her best efforts. She took a moment to make her face stony and reply evenly, "Then what do you propose we do to match her sorcery?"

The King shook his head, "Fool girl, don't you understand? There is no matching her; the Black Queen rules through might because there is no one in the land with the power to oppose her. I have entertained your noble defense of Rumpelstiltskin thus far, but it is misplaced; that creature in the dungeon knows as certainly as I do that storming the Queen's castle is certain doom, and likely he revels in the idea."

Belle started to object but the King had obviously had enough of it, "Abandon this quest, Belle; it is a fool's errand." Somewhat more timidly the King addressed the giant, "I apologize that my daughter has caused you to come all the way here, but she is young and does not understand the art of war or the nature of her chosen adversary."

The giant looked down at the King but did not reply, instead turning to Belle. "Does this mean you will not play?"

Belle shook her head after a moment's thought, "By law I am Rumpelstiltskin's champion, and I do not require your assent to complete my chosen quest."

Belle's voice softened as she saw how her father stiffened in anger, "But we need the might of soldiers to reach Queen Regina, so I will return when I can prove to you that we can deal with the queen's magic."

Belle confronted the glares of her comrades with a look of apology, "I'm sorry I should have told you sooner… it's just that with everything stacked against us as it is…"

Abigail finished the sentence for her, "You chose not to tell us you were working for that monster because you knew we wouldn't have helped you. Well, you were right." Abigail turned and began to walk away, and by the look on his face James was considering the same.

Belle pleaded quickly, "I'm not working for him; I love him. Rumple has broken his curse!"

Abigail paused and looked back with surprise and James asked, "Rumpelstiltskin was cursed?"

Belle nodded, pushing a lock of hair out of her face, "Something very dark motived him to do the things he did, something that fed on greed I think, but our love broke his spell and he seeks to undo everything he has done while under its effect."

James nodded, still remembering that he owed her and therefore Rumpelstiltskin for restoring Snow to him, but Abigail was reticent, "Cursed or not, that man has done things much of the kingdoms will be loath to forgive."

Belle nodded, "That is where we stand now; Rumple wastes away in a dungeon, unable to prove his sincerity. Please continue helping me to shine hope on even the most villainous of reputations…"

The two other nobles stood thinking a while, and finally Abigail responded, "I want to see him; to see that this isn't all a game he is playing. I'm sorry, Belle; I trust you, I just do not yet trust Rumpelstiltskin."

Belle agreed, sighing in relief that they were no longer leaving, "You will see for yourself, even his skin has resumed its normal color."

Belle, James, and Abigail had to work to allow the guard to allow them all back to see Rumpelstiltskin, but being princess of the castle made it hard for him to refuse them. "All right, fine, but just a few minutes, then all of you out, okay."

They agreed and were allowed into the small damp room that housed Rumpelstiltskin and a huddled lump in the corner that might have been a shaggy prisoner. He looked up as they approached, smiling to see Belle but obviously weak, his skin pale.

Rumpelstiltskin glanced to the other two in turn, gratitude in his eyes, "Thank you. The fact that you would give someone as lowly as me a chance like this warms my heart more than you can know."

James and Abigail moved closer, and Abigail walked even closer, her astonishment clear, "You have changed; every account I have ever heard of you said your skin was flecked with gold and your eyes were as black as night, but neither is true."

Rumpelstiltskin nodded, "I know; I had rather gotten used to it, and now have to adapt once more to my prior brand of ugly."

Belle smiled at his jest, "Well I for one find you handsome." She took his hand and gave his arm a comforting squeeze.

The two held each other a moment, simply glad to be near one another, and Abigail smiled, finally able to relax. "Alright, let's say I believe you have turned a new leaf; what do you propose we do to counter the Queen's magic, Rumpelstiltskin?"

The three weary travelers stopped in front of the strange cabin, James and Abigail dismounting from their horses as Belle stared at the display around them.

The cabin itself was utterly unremarkable, save that it seemed to have no windows or doors.

Surrounding the cabin though was a picket fence, each post of which sported a smiling skull, some human, others beasts, and some that Belle could not guess at. Belle got down from her horse and took a deep breath of the mountain air.

Abigail and James shared her worried look; the grass, though sparse was vibrantly green all the way up to the fence, but every plant within its parameter was brown and dead. The soil itself surrounding the house was dry and cracked.

James looked over to Belle, "Are you sure you want to do this? Rumpelstiltskin said there were no guarantees here, and I could tell he was worried for you. You won't do your lover any favors by dying today."

Belle shook her head, "This is his only chance, our only chance to defeat the Queen. Even if it wasn't for Rumple's need to prove himself, if what we do here can save the kingdoms from her talons then it is worth the risk."

James nodded and Abigail pulled her shawl tighter against the cold, "Do or die, I stand with you, Belle. Your willingness to sacrifice yourself like this is a strength your father may never understand."

Belle shook her head at Abigail, "No, Abigail; there's no need for either of you to enter, and if I don't return, I would prefer someone lived to find another way to meet our goal."

James piped in, "Rumpelstiltskin said there is no one else, and while you are as brave as any knight, you have no sword or training in its use; at least let me come with you."

Again, Belle shook her head, "If I do fail, you are still needed to meet father's demands. Besides, from what Rumple said, diplomacy is the only hope here. Wish me luck."

Both wished Belle good luck fervently as she approached the fence and opened the rickety gate, swinging it closed again behind her with a prolonged squeal of rusty metal. Belle walked along the beaten path to the cabin, to the spot where the path simply led into one of its walls.

Clearing her throat, Belle spoke with a clear voice, "Cabin, turn your back to the forest and your front to me."

Belle blinked, looking at a door that had appeared as if it had always been there. Glancing back one last time at the other two, who watched her anxiously,

Belle walked to the door, opened it and stepped inside in one motion, no longer allowing herself hesitation.

Inside the cabin was far stranger than she would have imagined. For one thing, the space she looked at belied the size of the building as she had seen it from the outside. From there it had seemed a small cabin, but within it was a sprawling mansion.

Belle licked her lips as she stared about. Mansion was not quite the right word, for usually such a rich home was furnished with a graceful sweeping ceiling and elaborately decorated furniture. This dwelling looked more like a cave, and a twisted one at that.

Gnarled, odd projections that looked like mottled clay extended everywhere with no apparent design, and irregular outcroppings that might resemble warped shelving, tables, desks were littered with all of the things she would expect a dabbler of magic to keep; strange bubbling vials, bottles of vicious fluids and creatures kept in glass jars.

Papers and books littered the place in abundance, just as many on the floor as rested on any other surface. Belle glanced nervously at the small piles of human skulls and kneaded her hands at the sound of animals she did not recognize coming from various crates.

Of the cabin's owner, though, she saw no sign. Taking a deep breath and nearly gagging from the awful stench of the place, Belle called out, "Hello… is anyone home?"

Belle jumped and cried out as a low hanging stalactite suddenly opened an eye to look at her. From further up a wide mouth opened in the ceiling and queried, "Who are you, that you enter the home of Baba Yaga?"

Belle did her best to push down her revulsion at the revelation that what she had thought to be mottled clay was actually flesh, the wrinkled and grey kind sported by the very old. "I have heard that Baba Yaga can be kind or cruel, if she so wished, and I came become I am desperate for her kindness."

Silence persisted and Belle shifted from one foot to the other, wondering what kind of awful things could be done to her in a place such as this. The mouth on the roof and the stalactite eye both closed suddenly, and an old woman was standing in front of Belle, gazing at her with a shrewdness that spoke of centuries of life. "What is your question?"

Belle nodded, relaxing a little, "Will you aid us in defeating the Black Queen of my homeland?"

Baba Yaga's eyes opened a bit in surprise, "You knew how to enter this cabin, yet no one told you how this works, did they? I offer advice and sometimes even prophecy to those that deserve it, when I feel like it. You ask too much to think I would care about your problems enough to aid you so directly."

Belle tried not to appear afraid, but the way the entire room grew darker as Baba Yaga's voice turned to irritation scared her fiercely, "I know I'm asking for something greater than any other, but I have strong reason to believe that the Queen will stretch her influence north into your land, and that one she discovers you she will seek your destruction."

Baba Yaga cackled in amusement, "Why would she care about this old hermit? Even the people of this land are not certain that I exist."

Belle kept her tone even, starting to have doubts about the sanity of this mission. Rumple had told her that entering the cabin was playing roulette with her own life, and now, seeing the mercurial nature of this powerful woman, she could see why. "She is the most powerful sorceress in seven kingdoms not only because of her own power but because she steals the power of others or kill them outright to preserve her own dominance."

Baba Yaga stared at her and Belle could feel herself sweating under the intensity of that stare. Finally the old woman spoke, "You are an earnest woman, and honest; a good woman. Do you know that I sometimes kidnap and eat small children?"

Belle clenched her fists and straightened at Baba Yaga's forthright admission. She gulped and nodded, "Yes."

Baba Yaga moved closer, so Belle noticed that her eyes were the gray, lifeless orbs of the blind, yet she still stared as if looking right at Belle, perhaps through her. "Very well, what is the name of my new rival?"


	6. Call to Arms

Word spread quickly that Belle and her two companions were returning to the land long before they reached Belle's father the King's castle. Great throngs of people waited not only outside of the citadel walls, within the surrounding town, and even along the roads leading to the capital.

Everyone there was waiting to see if Belle had finally failed her quest, which was now notorious. Her past deeds in acquiring not only a hero as accomplished as Prince James but even subduing a giant gave each person the hope that somehow she might actually succeed.

No one expected the sight they beheld, disbelieving the rumors of the transport that approached the castle, but as the King and his retinue came to the courtyard outside of the throne room to see the strange sight many gasped in awe.

A small cabin with no windows or doors arrived walking on giant chicken-like legs, villagers and guards alike scurrying out of its way as it strode purposefully through the arch of the castle gates and into the courtyard.

The same adviser who had offered similar advice before sidled up beside the King, whispering, "Catapults now, sire?"

The king waved him off angrily and returned to staring at the abomination before him. He watched as it settled down in the center of the courtyard, the stalk-like legs folding and then disappearing underneath as it touched the ground.

A door appeared suddenly and Belle emerged, followed by James. She walked up to the King and bowed deeply, "Your majesty, father; I present to you the most powerful witch of the lands to the north, the hag Baba Yaga."

For a long few moments everyone stared tensely and nothing happened, and Belle began to worry that the old woman would not exit her house. Could she exit her house? Suddenly, though, a dark form shot out of the open door and flew a circle over the assembled crowd, Baba Yaga cackling manically at the fearful shouts.

Returning to the area just before the King she slowed down enough so that everyone could see that Baba Yaga rode upon what looked like a solid black stone, her weathered hand steering the odd device with what seemed a long black lever that disappeared from sight inside the apparatus.

The crone slowly lowered until her transport rested on the grass of the courtyard, and she fixed her blind eyes on the King. "Your daughter says I need your armies to destroy your 'Black Queen'. I shall be the judge of that."

The King's mouth dropped open a moment, and then he regained his composure and called his councilors to himself. Before they could take a step forward

Baba Yaga laughed, "What, are you so wise and discerning a King that you cannot make comment for yourself?"

The King's eyes widened and the courtyard grew very quiet. The lord of the castle's advisers looked askance of their liege and he shook his head at them, finally replying to the crone, "'Most powerful witch of the north' is an easy statement to make, since you are not known here. It is obvious you possess power, but are even you aware of what you face?"

Baba Yaga smiled and stepped closer, the royal guard lowering their spears menacingly in response. She glanced at the armed men and laughed again, "I have turned men into frogs and pulled their legs off for snacking for saying less. But I am feeling generous today; I will show you how much you know about this Queen of yours."

Baba Yaga took three deep breaths, sniffing loudly with her large wart-ridden nose, and floated to the side of the courtyard where the King's knights stood, all of whom took the pommels of their swords in hand at her approach.

She stopped in front of Gaston, who stared at her with open disgust, and pointed one gnarled finger at him, "This man has been touched by your Queen, and very recently."

A gasp sounded from the crowd at the accusation, and the King spoke up quickly in his defense. "Gaston has not left this castle in months, and the Queen does not travel in secret; the arrival of her personal carriage and guards has not been noted here in years."

Baba Yaga leaned in close, locking Gaston's eyes with her own as if she were a snake-handler of the Far East, or perhaps the snake itself. He could only stare back, his mouth open and the sheen of nervous sweat on his brow. "She doesn't have to come here to speak to you, does she, Gaston? What did she ask you to do recently, or…?" Baba Yaga smiled as if she saw something in his eyes he tried to hide, "…what did you ask of her?"

The King started to speak, angry, but Gaston's voice cracked as he practically shouted his guilt, "…Belle's foolishness had to stop, she was endangering the kingdom with her mad scheme, and once the Queen found out…"

The King's face paled, "Gods, boy… did you tell the Black Queen what we planned?"

Gaston shook his head passionately, "No, sire! I knew that Rumpelstiltskin was at the heart of her madness, so…"

Belled gasped, "What have you done, Gaston?" Without another word Belle raced across the courtyard, shoving people out of her way as she worked her way to the dungeon entrance.

Gaston's voice sounded behind her, "I'm sorry, Belle, it's for your own good!"

Belle pushed past the guardsman for the prison, who attempted to grab her but caught only air, "Hey, what are you doing!"

She stopped in front of the cell door, straining to see through its tiny window, then looking back to the guardsman and waving him on, "Hurry, open it… please!"

The big man paused, taking in her desperation, and finally shook his head as he sighed. "You're going to put my head on the chopping block with your antics, girl." He unlocked the door and Belled rushed in, looking around as her eyes struggled to adapt to the low light.

He was gone. Belle kneeled over the form of the other prisoner that quietly watched her from the corner, "Please, tell me what happened?"

The shaggy man licked his lips, an action that looked odd, since his beard was so overgrown and course that it appeared as if I tongue suddenly emerged from nothing but hair. He coughed, "Forgive me, madam, but I don't rightly know what happened. He was there one moment, and then the next he was… gone."

Belle's heart grew cold as she felt the hand of despair clutch her. She joined the scraggly man on the floor, folding her arms around her knees as she rocked, "No… no, no, no…"

James came barreling in after her and the guardsman drew the line here, "Stay back! I seem to have an escaped inmate and it's bad enough she's in there!"

James lifted his hands to each side to show he meant no harm and backed away a bit, craning his neck for a view of the interior, worried at the sound of Belle sobbing, "Is he alright?"

Snow and Abigail took turns giving Belle a quiet hug, both able to see the solemn misery on her face. Snow could imagine how hard it was to work so hard to be with someone just to have them ripped away since similar had happened to her, though she was still hard to absorb the fact that Belle's chosen love was the conniving Rumpelstiltskin.

Abigail had returned the horses to the castle stables and went to check on Snow, who was playing the harp for the giant, the humongous figure resting serenely in the palace garden, an angry groundskeeper staring daggers at the giant whose bulk crushed many well-tended bushes and flowers.

So it was that they only realized what had happened when Belle came to report to them that her reason for fighting so hard had been stolen from them.

All three women were standing in silence when Baba Yaga floated around the corner and approached them, reproach on her face, "You asses act as if your Rumpledforeskin is already dead! Tell me something… didn't you plan on attacking the Queen directly?"

Anger flashed across Belle's face and Abigail placed a hand on her shoulder, speaking first for fear of what otherwise might be said, "Yes, we do, and we will. We'll take Rumpelstiltskin back from her…" Abigail regarded Belle then, staring into the other woman's eyes, "…Regina won't steal his, or your, chance."

Snow gave Belle a confident smile, "All right; I can't say I share your love of the man, but for your sake, Belle, I'm in."

James spoke up, causing all three to jump, as they hadn't realized he had arrived behind them, "You're not a swordsman, Snow, and neither are you other two. If you want to help Rumpelstiltskin, Belle, stay here and pray to whatever gods you wish to deliver your father's armies a victory."

Belle shook her head, her eyes angry and defiant, "I'm Rumple's champion, and since what you say is all true…" Belle reached forward, pulling James' sword from its sheath, "…you're going to have to hurry if you want me to learn what I need to know."

Belle wiped sweat from her brow, her arms hanging limply at each side and the weight of the practice sword in her hand dragging on the ground as it became everything she could do to lift it. She glanced up at the waxing moon above and looked to James across from her, who also breathed heavily but seemed to bear his exhaustion much more comfortably.

"If…" she panted, "…if we push too hard on the first day, won't that hurt our ability to keep this up?"

James nodded grimly, but his sword unlike hers was still pointed at his sparring partner. "Yes, but if you seriously wish to skirmish with trained soldiers, the only way we hope to condition you in time is going to cause you a lot of pain, and even more soreness when you wake tomorrow."

Belle nodded, putting her will to her leaden arms and lifting the heavy wooden blade so that she was at least closer to the fighting stance James had taught her was the 'neutral' stance; the stance where she wasn't yet certain whether she must lunge or parry, dodge or slash, so she sought balance, one foot up and ready to move, the majority of her weight on her best leg.

James came at her again as soon as her sword was level, as always relentless in his assault, as the numerous bruises on her body accounted for. He had explained early on that being struck was important in learning to avoid a blade, and that they didn't have time for her to learn any way but the hard one.

As he had since they started, James instructed her on what she was doing wrong even as he moved around her tired defense and struck her lightly across the midsection with his own wooden sword, "Your arms are too high. Lower your sword into a slash or die from the worst wound a swordsman can receive."

Belle nodded dully and continued to do her best to keep up with the agile fighter as he continued to deflect her own attempts to strike him and rapped her on the shoulder, back, stomach, and upper legs. The worst part, she thought glumly, is that even though he was pushing her she knew he was still taking it easy on her. "How… how did you get this skilled?" she panted.

James smiled, seeming to remember fonder times, "When I was a boy I always dreamed of being a knight, and often played swords with my friends."

Belle smiled back, trying to lunge back to escape a thrust and tripping over a stump, falling back onto her haunches with a grunt. James came forward and gave her a hand to return to standing, "I'll teach you how to recover from a fall later; for now focus on not falling by avoiding backwards movement… move to the side and push a thrust aside with your own sword."

James demonstrated the movement by having her thrust at him, and Belle saw with interest that his block left her very open once the thrust had been pushed away. "Surely you didn't get this good playing at swords… and why play at knight when you were a prince?"

James shook his head, "I was born a farmer's son; my becoming a prince is recent and… complicated. Don't fool yourself into thinking I'm the best there is..." James' face grew serious, "You could very well meet a veteran out there many times my better. I owe what I know to a champion of my royal adoptive 'father's' court. They wanted me to look the part when I was to be groomed as a prince and married off to King Midas' daughter."

Belle stared, "You were a farmer…?" A large smile spread over her face, "My father is afraid of Baba, but he can't hurry this, and it will take months for our armies to amass, especially now that the other Kingdoms are pooling their own soldiers into the effort. If a farm-boy can become a slayer like you have, then I see no reason why a princess such as me can't hold her own as a warrior with that much time to prepare."

James smiled again, "Only if we keep up this pace, only if you want it bad enough and…" James stepped around her overhead chop and casually swatted her in the rump with the flat of his sword, "…only if you learn to waste less time pulling that thing over your head."


	7. Drums of war

James watched nervously as soldiers bustled to move into rank and form. Five Kings stood across from the prince, James' 'father' having declined his call to arms once he had discovered that the message listed James as the commander of the joint campaign.

Midas glared at James and the younger man coughed and looked away. Abigail had been forced to tell her father that they did not intend to marry and Midas assumed that James had spurned her, staying to aid the effort to stop Queen Regina, but not necessarily to work with James.

The final King was unaccounted for and none of the messengers had returned, so the combined forces had decided to move on without him. James looked from one regal disposition to the next, keeping his own head up and back straight as they did.

Now that they had come this far, James felt overwhelming pressure on his part to perform the role of the legendary war general that would lead them all to victory; the only problem was that James didn't know the first thing about war beyond what he had read in a few books while the armies amassed.

He was bluffing, and if even one King caught on to that fact, James would be responsible for ruining everything they had all worked for. As it was, he still worried about his own adoptive 'father' and what harm the disgruntled King might cause with a simple letter stating James' real heritage.

James forced himself to calm down; that particular King wouldn't dare reveal James as a fraud, since doing so might reveal that he himself had lied not only to Midas but to his entire kingdom in setting up the false prince.

Midas stepped forward, not allowing James to avoid his intense eyes, "You have yet to tell us how you wish these many various platoons to coordinate their efforts. These men all have very different experiences, as I'm certain you're aware, and we need to be certain that veteran and novice alike are placed where they will be used best."

James resisted the urge to pull at his collar, feeling as if the air surrounding the castle balcony overlooking their forces was entirely too hot, but knowing that it was only his own nervousness that created the heat.

James pointed out at a group north of them, "I would like a textbook formation to start with; foot soldiers marking the front ranks, archers in the back and Calvary protected but ready to charge mid-pace on either side."

Midas' tone was flat, "I assume that you plan something more original once we have engaged? And how do you plan to relay messages in the heat of battle concerning a sudden shift in the lines you might desire?"

James paused, meeting Midas' icy gaze and replying gruffly, "We will reconvene tomorrow with my plan of action and all of the particulars. But I will tell you now that I intend to have each of you commanding your own division of soldiers, to better temper decisions that need to be made on the spur of the moment."

Midas gave him an irritated look, "While I do not deny your skill as a swordsman personally, your execution of orders already seems flawed; how do you plan to organize the efforts of six commanding officers across such as vast regiment?"

James smiled, doing his best to seem convincing, "Just leave that to me."

"And that is why I need… some help."

James sat despondently on the rich couch in the rooms that had been granted to him by Belle's father. Belle herself was in the gardens lulling the giant to sleep for the night with the beautiful music of the harp, the melody of which had become famous within the castle.

Snow, Abigail, and the dwarf Grumpy sat across from him, the latter having insisted on coming to keep Snow safe from further attempts on her life. They all sat considering a while, and finally Snow piped up, "I might know someone, but he's a little… eccentric."

James looked up hopefully, "That's wonderful; I'll take what I can get! Who is this man?"

Snow smiled, "Well, not a man… precisely…"

Regina stood on the highest tower of her castle, a pristine monument to her deceased husband's ideals whose beauty was somehow darkened by the long solid black banners that fluttered from its windows and flags. Each bore the personal sigil of Regina's previously all but forgotten family line, which now consisted of only her and her father, Henry.

The Queen's brow drew down even as her mouth curled into a vengeful smile. All knew her family now, though, and all respected, even feared the symbol of her house. Her smile faded as she purveyed the assembled hosts who camped upon her land on three sides, a large armada of enemy ships guarded any escape by sea.

Regina almost laughed at the thought that they might believe she would be attempting to row herself to safety. As if she had anything to fear from men with swords, no matter their numbers. She turned away from the window, looking to her dark-haired father, who watched her solemnly, "Please have the mirror inform me when they finally get their courage up enough to run into their own death."

Henry nodded to her in his quiet way and turned to watch the horde of troops below. Regina moved down the stairs of the tower and then further than that, all the way to the very lowest corners of her dungeon, where she paused to look into a dark cell.

Rumpelstiltskin approached the bars of his prison and gave her an earnest look, "I thought a lot like you do now not so long ago; the people obviously don't want your rule, and there is no reason you can't abscond your throne peacefully."

Regina leaned close, her voice venomous, "If you thought anything like me then you know that I would sooner die than bow to some peasant rabble you've somehow convinced into attacking me."

Rumpelstiltskin gave her a sad smile, "What makes you think I had anything to do with the fire that drives these kings against you? Those aren't pitchforks and rags but armor and pikes, swords and arrows, your majesty."

Regina hissed in anger, "I don't really care how you did it…" She smiled, "I only know that you're just as much a fool as them, if you think this will do anything other than cement their rightful fear of me once I send them all to the abyss. I may spare the kings… or replace them…"

As Regina tapped her lips thoughtfully deciding who lived or died, Rumpelstiltskin shook his head sadly, "Are you to rule a pile of bones, a field of ash?"

Regina gave him a hard look, "I'll do whatever I have to." She walked closer still, smiling pleasantly at Rumpelstiltskin, "Now are you going to tell me what I want to hear today?"

Rumpelstiltskin shook his head, "My answer remains the same; you'll have to kill me."

Regina's smile only became wider, "Excellent; I rather like that you're being so difficult, it makes breaking you so much fun… troll!"

A hunched, misshapen form lumbered into view, already carrying the whip he knew his mistress would demand. Regina took the long sleek leather implement as the troll moved passed her, unlocking the cell door and pushing Rumpelstiltskin against the far wall.

Rumpelstiltskin grunted as he slammed into the unyielding stone, the troll being none too gentle in its efforts to secure his hands to manacles on the wall so that his back faced the queen. His shirt was long since shredded to reveal the crosshatched marks of her previous ministrations.

Regina stepped up and brought the lash down hard across his back, reminding the former sorcerer how much it hurt. Her smile only seemed to grow as he flinched and strained against the restraints, "You're still holding out hope that someone will come save you, 'Rumple', which is only going to make it that much sweeter when you realize you withstood all of this for nothing…"

Belle's father paced in from of the commandment tent, his eyes ever turning to the castle that so many eyes watched. He stepped up to Baba Yaga, who sat just outside of the tent, her eyes closed and appearing as nothing so much as a tired old woman. "What is she doing and why are they not having us charge? The element of surprise is long gone!"

Baba opened her eyes and fixed the King with a hot glare that caused him to step back, "There was never a surprise; your 'Black Queen' has been spying on you the entire time your soldiers mustered. As to what your military leader is doing, I suggest you place your question in a wiser place, I only traditionally answer one anyhow."

The King's jaw dropped, "You knew she was spying on us and did nothing?"

Baba Yaga stood, and though she was far shorter than the King physically, even his untrained mind could feel if not see an invisible force rise above him that could squash him like an ant. His councilors watched in awe and shame as their king apologized, "I meant no disrespect…"

Baba Yaga snorted, "Do not make yourself memorable to me, King Whateveryournameis… as to the Queen, I could no more stop her scrying than you could remove every reflective surface in the five realms that resist her."

At that moment four birds lifted from the central command tent, and cries went up, the King able to turn his attention away from Baba Yaga's intimidating blind eyes. A captain rode up on his warhorse, both fear and excitement evident in his voice, "It is time; we attack."

Regina swept into the courtyard of her castle, marking the faces of her generals, all hardened men who had been pivotal in expanding her reach across seven kingdoms. She paused, letting the quiet settle on them a moment, enjoying that they hinged on every word she said, "I see now that my experiment with allowing the other kingdoms to keep their various rulers, in an act of diplomacy, has failed."

She looked out at the gathered legions of her soldiers who flanked the castle on all sides, every able man that she had and then some, as she had drafted many more in the months it took the rebellion to mount its own forces.

All of them wore the ebony armor that heralded her iron rule, and soon they would sweep down on the attempted usurpers like a wave of death. Regina smiled, "Once we have crushed this revolt, we will spread out again across the lands in a true act of conquest!"

The soldiers cheered, hearty cries booming across courtyard from within and without. Regina continued, "I shall place my most successful warlords as regents of each conquered nation, and our flag shall hang from every castle, from every manor and mansion; today we become an empire!"

The roar of applause was deafening, and Regina reveled in the thrill of it, the passion of these men who would crush her enemies, "Go! Those that slay their kings shall take a place in my court; cut down the weak fools that oppose us so we may replace them in strength!"

Midas watched as the black waves of men spread out from the Queen's castle in three directions. Abigail stood at his side, ignoring his requests for her to stay off of the battlefield. She had told him that if they managed to make it as far as the king's tents, she would not allow him to fight alone.

Finally conceding to her willful demands, Midas' brow furrowed as he watched the incoming assault. They had just received the command to attack, which coincided with their enemies' sudden charge to perfectly. "She knew we were about to move and ordered a charge before we could mobilize."

Abigail nodded, "I'm going to assume that James knew she would; that he wanted her to attack first."

Midas shook his head growling, "You assume much; the fact that the boy insists on keeping us in the dark, that he is actually going to try to 'improvise' in the midst of war either means he is a brilliant strategist or a ravening fool."

Abigail gave him a dour look, "He is 'Prince James', daddy, and you can ignore my input all you like, but I still did not wish to marry him, regardless of whether he left or not. You have made your opinion of him clear many times now, but the people still look to him for answers, so please give him your support?"

Midas did not answer his expression sour as he stared at the incoming enemy still a ways off from engaging his foremost line. Two birds rose from the central command tent and suddenly the units northwest and northeast charged the Queen's attacking troops.

Midas relaxed a little, "A pincer; if they continue forward to us they will be slaughtered to the man between three fronts, they must retreat or at least stop their charge."

True to Midas' evaluation a man on horseback leading the Queen's retinue on Midas' side of the castle brought up a fist, and the charging black mass slowed, clearly intending to fall back and become even with the ever expanding line of Regina's warriors.

Abigail pointed happily as two birds rose from the central command tent, and units to the west and east of the now halted advance moved aside to allow mounted warriors past, who rode as fast as they could to the rear of the now separated force. "He's not going to let them, this contingent is now surrounded on all sides, and look; he does it on two other fronts, catching their less wary in his trap!"

Midas gazed out at the field to see that the same maneuver had been done elsewhere. Instead of joy, though, all color drained from his face, "He places the cavalry's backs to the rest of the enemy lines!"

Abigail felt her heart sink, for the thousandth time wondering if they shouldn't have just told at least the kings the truth, which was that James was no accomplished military strategist. She watched with trepidation, her heart fluttering in hope that the cavalry would not be crushed by the second line at their backs.

That hope died as Abigail saw the black shafts lift into the air, too numerous to count; posing large targets on horseback and without shields or even knowledge that death rained from the sky, the mounted warriors rode into their enemies flanks with zealous cries, unknowing of the fate that descended upon them.

Abigail brought her hand to her mouth, "Please, no…"


	8. Tug of War

The arrows descended, as cries of alarm sounded across the infantry, warnings that would come far too late, but ended up unnecessary. Even as the shafts had risen from the south, a great flock of birds had risen from the north, and each avian swept upon an arrow, plucking it from its course and them dropping the deadly missiles upon the heads of the very archers who had fired them.

The enemy archer units scrambled, shield-men straining in vain to protect the archers from their own arrows as the volley returned to them. Added to this confusion were the arrows of the freedom fighters, whose shafts the birds did not intercept, which landed with deadly result in the milling infantry who had turned their backs to aid their archers and therefore did not have their shields ready.

Regina frowned, her father gasping as the reversal posed by common birds destroyed their middle lines, opening the gap between Regina's forces further so that the enemy horseman were unopposed as they cut swaths through the surrounded front ranks. "How are they doing this?"  
>Regina shrugged, "Controlling such small beasts is child's play; this trick has probably expended every wizard those fool kings employ." She smiled, "Meaning they will be defenseless to my own magic, but…"<p>

Regina stepped into a diagram she had already drawn onto the balcony floor, in preparation of the improbable need for it. She smiled, "This is overkill, but it time to show these hedge-wizards a real beast."

Regina lifted her arms to her sides and canted loudly, her words rhyming in an ancient tongue as she extended one hand to the sea. A great stillness passed, every creature in the land seeming to silence itself at once, and the fighting soldiers on both sides stopped, even the simplest of them realizing something was wrong.

The ground trembled, and suddenly massive waves parted, a creature that resembled a giant whale surfacing from the deep. Its great head turned in a way that was more ken to a serpent, though, and as it raised itself onto land it was clear that it had four stocky legs ending in great talons.

As big as a small boat but startlingly fast, the behemoth charged one of the enemy camps, throwing soldiers as if they were wheat, and catching several at a time into its massive jaws, which sported wicked, shark-like teeth.

Regina laughed, enjoying the screams of terror that sounded from below like a chorus. She watched, interested, as the enemy lines retreated too slowly from the gargantuan beast. "What now, James?"

Prince James gulped at the sight of the Leviathan, and Snow pressed behind him, "James, say something!"

James had expected a monster, but even after facing a dragon he was not prepared for the monstrous size of the beast. "A beast…" James turned to the thin man dressed in flamboyant clothes that stood beside him, "…can't you control it?"

The wiry man laughed, a shrill sound, "My flute controls small animals like birds and rats, and I doubt its magic would succeed a test against the Black Bird up there anyways." The man that everyone had simply starting calling the Piper (because his given name was too strange to pronounce, a chorus of squeaks and whistles, or so he claimed) seemed far too sedate considering the fact that a monster the size of a barn rampaged just outside of their tent.  
>James turned to Snow, "Well, I guess you're up…"<p>

The enemy suddenly parted to allow one person to approach the beast, and Regina craned her neck to see who the brave fool might be. Her lips curled into a smile as she realized who it was. Snow walked towards the beast with calmness so absolute that even the Leviathan slowed its advance, gazing down at the tiny creature that dared confront it.

Snow carried a golden harp, and Regina's smiled faded a bit as Snow began to play it. Then she clucked her tongue at the notion, "The little hussy thinks she can steal my enchantment. I don't care where she got that thing, no one usurps my spells."

Regina stood and threw her hand out toward the Leviathan, sending a surge of her own considerable will into the beast. The Leviathan roared and Snow stopped playing the harp, backing away from the creature. Regina laughed until Snow grabbed something from a pouch at her waist and threw it on the ground in between her and the behemoth as it charged.

With suddenness that spoke of ancient, powerful magic a beanstalk exploded from the ground where she had thrown the seed. The Leviathan barely avoided being struck by the rising green column and backed away as it grew. Regina smirked, "She missed!"

So it was that Regina's eyes were on the ground and the events that played there, and she did not see the giant that swiftly climbed down from above until a shadow passed over her castle as he jumped the last of the distance.

There was no time to leave the tower by conventional means, the bulk of the descending giant looming over everything as his massive feet came down upon the roof, girders and beams snapping as if they were twigs under his colossal weight.

Regina cried out in real fear and snatched her father's shirt, pulling Henry along with her as she leapt into a full-length mirror, her magic transporting them to the opposite tower just before the giant's bulk would have crushed them both.

Regina cried out in rage as she oriented herself to her new surroundings, glancing out of the window and seeing the telltale flash of light that signified her spell matrix being physically destroyed as the giant continued to rampage through the ruins of her castle's east wing, the whole building shuddering each time he stomped his mighty feet.

Snow began to play her harp again, and the Leviathan's great dark eyes cooled, a sedate expression crossing its alien features as she walked it back to the shore, back to the ocean from which it has risen. Regina saw then the long boats that had crept up during the commotion from the distant ships then, saw the soldiers who disembarked and snuck into the new gaps in her castle's walls.

Regina's anger peaked, and she cried out again at the audacity, the sheer gall these people had at coming for her personally. Regina raised her arms, bringing them down in a simple gesture of brute magical force.

Roots, vines, even the grass bent itself to her command, grabbing at the feet of both the soldiers who tried to breach her home and those in the field beyond. She gestured with a wide, aggressive smile at the huge beanstalk and slowly it too bent, picking up speed as it moved to ensnare even the giant. "No one defeats me; no one!"

The Queen's magic turned the tide of the fight more surely than even the Leviathan had. Men were cut down by the dark armored troops, unable to free their feet from the mire of twisting roots, and often bound so that they could not even bring sword or shield up in their own defense, helpless.

An adviser to Belle's father, Maurice the King, usually a mild man, suddenly stepped forward to confront Baba Yaga, righteous fury coloring his face, "Why aren't you doing something!"

A gasp went up from the other advisers, and Baba Yaga whipped around to face the now terrified elderly man, "You…" She pointed one long nailed finger at the trembling adviser who had dared to question her. "What is your name, brave soul?"

The balding councilor gulped, "M-my name is Edwin, mistress."

Baba Yaga smiled at him; a sight more frightening than the most evil of glares. "You… your name I shall remember, Edwin..." Baba Yaga extended an arm out to the chaos below them, "How did you expect me to know what she could do before now, Edwin?"

Maurice stepped up then, a chill of fear for his dying people flooding his heart and giving him the courage to ask, "Mistress Yaga… do you not have the power to match the Dark Queen's sorcery?"

Baba Yaga shook her head, shrugging offhandedly, "I'll admit, I never thought I'd see someone with so much control over the Dark Arts. Frankly…" The witch laughed, "…she is far more powerful than I."

James had done everything he could to stymie his panic up until this moment, but now he pulled at his hair, "Baba Yaga isn't aiding us… the Giant is fully grounded now; our attempt to strike Regina directly has failed."

The Piper laughed, a harsh titter of a noise, "Well then, let me consult with our mentor straightaway!" With that the Piper lifted his jeweled pipe to his mouth and blew a short burst into it. Unlike a normal flute, this one made no sound at all, but already James had seen the power of it when the Piper had controlled birds to help their armies.

All eyes in the command tent turned to look at the beast that the Piper played to; a slim fox who lay on a pillow in the center of the tent. The fox lifted his head lazily and regarded the Piper through half-closed eyes.

A general for King Midas leaned in close to James, whispering to the prince as the Piper proceeded to bring a hand to his ear, as if listening to an equally silent reply from the fox. "The man is a loon; he can obviously control the animals, but my heart quails to think that we are leaning on a loon who thinks a fox is talking to him to gain military advice."

Others in the tent nodded, and James could see by the worry on their faces that the turn of the battle made them question James' reliance on the Piper and his fox. James ignored the looks they made, though, knowing that without the Piper insane though he might be, James had no sound advice.

James approached the Piper, "Your debate cannot continue, we need decisive action and I need…" James looked at those standing around them nervously, "…I need your input now."

The Piper nodded and looked back to the fox a moment more, his face curling into a mischievous smile, "We haven't lost yet, milord; the fox's cunning defies all reason!"

Snow rolled away from a grasping set of roots, each as thick as her leg. She looked around quickly, realizing that the roots were coming from a nearby tree, and worked to move away from the threat. No sooner did she seem to escape that tree's reach than the tall grass in her new location snagged at her angles, tripping her so that she fell.

Snow tried to leap to her feet again, but the strands of green took her wrists, which caused her to land face first in the soil, sputtering. She cried out as the small roots, each easily snapped alone but together as strong as rope, bound her in place.

A soldier in ebony armor strolled over to her as she yelled for help, for Charming, for anyone. The grim-faced killer smiled as he lifted a war-axe, "Wrong time, wrong place, lady. Too bad you only get to choose the losing side once, eh?"

The axe came down and Snow jerked away, screaming in terror. The axe landed in the dirt where she had been, and Snow stared at the soldier, who stared at her in equal surprise; she had wrenched free. Snow rushed forward as the soldier pulled the axe from the ground, slamming the harp down across his head as hard as she could.

The warrior fell to the ground limply and Snow felt a pang of regret, wondering if she had killed him. Then she remembered that the man had been about to take her life while she lay helpless, and Snow's jaw tightened.

Looking at the ground where she had previously been ensnared, Snow smiled; everywhere as far as she could see, animals and insects of myriad different types flocked to the battlefield. Rabbits chewed with deer at the roots that bound soldiers, while grasshoppers and beetles ate at the grass that mired their army with great gusto.

The enemy soldiers hacked at the animals, but the field was literally crawling with beasts and bugs, as if every single creature in the land had decided to join the resistance. Snow heard happy laughter and looked toward the command tent to see James clap the Piper on the back. The wiry man for his part played his flute furiously with an intense look of concentration, and Snow knew who had saved her life.

Regina roared her fury as she slammed a fist against the stone of her tower, and then calmed, turning to regard her father, "They won't be able to free the giant like that, but I'm not interested in seeing whether our troops can kill them fairly anymore."

Regina started down the tower steps and her father sent a questioning look after her, "What do you intend to do now, then? You look tired, daughter; that sorcery has drained you."

The Queen only smiled at him over her shoulder as she continued her march back down to the courtyard, "I have more power in me yet than they could every dream of and since Snow insists on making this a tug of war with beasts I intend to show her some real beasts."


	9. Death Knell

Queen Regina, the Black Queen, stood in the courtyard of her late husband Leopold clenching and unclenching her fists, drawing deep to pull what she needed to her. Her personal guard assembled on all sides of her, the one general who had remained behind stepping forward, "You risk yourself coming into the courtyard; the walls are down on the east side. Are you planning surrender?"

Regina laughed and patted the brown-haired man who had become known as the Huntsman on the cheek, "I'm sure you would love that, wouldn't you, my pet?"

The Huntsman frowned at her darkly in his way and Regina knew that if she didn't have his heart he would have slain her on the spot. "Since you have so much more compassion for animals than people, you should go avenge my poor thwarted Leviathan for me by slaying as many of their soldiers as you can."

The Huntsman sneered at her, but had long since consigned himself to the fate she had forced him into. Mounting his horse he rode out of the courtyard without another word. Regina gazed through the breach in the wall, watching the tree line, "Soon."

"We're winning!" Grumpy the dwarf's face was uncharacteristically happy as he kicked a soldier aside with his powerful stout leg and brought his mining pick down on the thigh of another, causing the warrior to cry out in pain and drop his weapons as he crumpled to the ground clutching his wound.  
>Snow gave a hopeful if still very worried nod as she backed her way toward the command tent. She had been caught in the thick of the fighting, and having Grumpy charge in to help her remove herself from the heart of the conflict had been a great relief.<p>

A soldier gave a bloodcurdling cry as he lunged for Snow's unprotected back. Grumpy called out but was too far away, and Snow clenched her eyes shut, her weight having already been committed to leaping backwards she had no way to dodge and she waited for the sharp pain of injury.  
>Instead another soldier rushed in between them, parrying the blade and slamming her hilt into the rushing soldiers face. The man went down with a groan and Snow's rescuer turned to look at the other warrior's intended target, "Snow, what are you doing here unarmed?"<p>

Snow smiled brightly at Belle, "Well, I might have learned how to use one if you weren't so busy stealing my man away every day these last few months."

Belle smiled back good-naturedly, "Fair enough." Her expression grew serious as several more men ran their way to confront the three isolated rebels. "I fully intend to push my way to that keep and get Rumple out; Regina caught the regiment detailed to break in, and he probably needs help."

Snow nodded, and Grumpy gave her a look like she was insane, "You're no warrior…" he turned the same gaze upon Belle, "…I'll go with you, but wait until we get snow back to safety!"

Snow spoke before Belle could, "No, that will take up too much time; Belle is right, we may not get another opportunity to move so far forward into their lines."

Grumpy huffed, "We're only this far in because of dumb luck and the fact that few of these guys take us seriously!" As he spoke Grumpy grabbed the sword arm of a soldier who attempted to hack at him with a hand axe and drew the man in, head-butting him in the face.

Belle stabbed at the soldier who approached her, but the cautious man turned her blade aside with a shield and she backpedaled to avoid being killed by his counter-swing. Belle jerked around to look behind her as Snow cried out in warning, and narrowly avoided a wide swing by another soldier.

Grumpy hit the soldier who had a shield full-tilt with his shoulder, catching the man by surprise and sending him tumbling off balance to roll down the hill. Belle stepped around a thrust and drove her sword into the armpit of her heavily armored foe, one of the weak points James had taught her.

The soldier screamed in agony and collapsed, and Snow decided their next action for them by dashing towards the Queen's castle. Belle ran after her and Grumpy shook his head before following, "Nuts!"

James saw the sleek form of the Huntsman and knew he was outmatched. Unlike the Queen's other retinue, the Huntsman wore supple leathers as opposed to the black plate that adorned the others, obviously relying on his speed to avoid incoming attacks entirely.

After watching the man cut down several of their cavalry while on foot, James knew his own natural talent with a blade wouldn't stand up against someone like that; the Huntsman fought like a machine of war, his every swing and step precise and straightforward without any wasted movement.

James looked to his right to see King Midas regarded him, the King giving him a nod of recognition. James was surprised, "Why are you here… have you fallen back so far?"

Midas nodded assent, "Aye. Your strategies are genius after all, and I would have you know I misjudged you, but that Huntsman is a shark in the water, and he is driving a divide in our lines for his forces to follow directly to my tent, so here I am."

James nodded back grimly, realizing that all eyes were on him; these people all expected their dragon slayer to slay the Huntsman. The Piper set a hand on his shoulder and gave him an uncommonly lucid look as he leaned close and whispered, "Fox says it would be unwise to face the Hunter in single combat."

James smiled sadly at Piper before replying quietly, "Thank you my friend, I know… but honor demands no other choice." James regarded the assembled Kings and generals and drew his blade, walking toward his fate.

King Maurice was looking at the absurd reality of one man hewing through their lines, dancing around veterans and young men alike, a dance whose movements were accompanied by the wails of the dying. For that reason he didn't see the threat until his councilor Edwin shouted a warning, "Sire, behind!"

Maurice tried to move out of the way, but despite its size the troll had managed to sneak practically on top of him, and the wicked dagger the beast-man wielded plunged into Maurice with an icy feeling. Cries rose up all throughout the command as more of the gangly creatures emerged from the woods behind them, many having already claimed victims and moving on for more.

"No!" Edwin rushed forward, drawing his own knife and copying the same thrust the troll had performed on his king, driving the blade as deeply as he could, panting with fear at the awful howl the creature made.

Edwin blanched at the horrible stink of the monster's breath and body odor, and pushed as hard as he could to knock it aside. The troll fell over dead and Edwin caught Maurice as the lord fell, "Milord! A-are you alright?"

The other councilors leaned over the king in concern as his bodyguard drew a circle around their lord to protect him from further attack. What was left of his guard, anyways; most had perished in the initial struggle, and what few remained looked terrified.

Edwin gasped at the sight of so much blood, unsure which was Maurice's, and which belonged to his troll attacker. He cried miserably, "Oh gods please don't forsake us now!"

Regina's smiled at the view, watching as men fought one another, her forces considerably outnumbered but savage, each soldier knowing that he had but to break the enemy lines and reach a king to make his fortune forever more.

She could see the Huntsman as well, if not him specifically but by the swath of dead and dying men who lay in his wake. The rebels crowded him, attempting to drown him in sheer numbers, but he always managed to stay ahead of the grappling mass, moving through gaps in their attacks and making it seem effortless.

Many of the men who attacked the Huntsman slayed their own comrades in their fervor as he often pushed them into each other with an almost careless shrug, a deft sleight of hand that dealt the reaper's reward to his enemies.

Regina turned her gaze to the enemy command tent, trying to see if she can spot any of the fools who had dared to wage war on her. She could not see the tent from the distance she stood for all of the fighting, but she did see a flag moving through the lines and understood that James was moving toward the huntsman.

Regina laughed, "Oh you poor dumb boy."

"Regina!"

She turned to see who addressed her and beheld the odd sight of Snow, a female soldier and a dwarf wielding a pickaxe. Regina held her smile, icy and threatening, "That is "My Queen" or "Your Majesty" to you, ingrate."

Belle stepped forward, her sword leveled, "Not anymore."

Snow's mind raced to come up with a way for the three of them to survive the confrontation. When she had decided to risk all and enter the castle so that Belle could have her opportunity to rescue Rumpelstiltskin, she had not expected to be greeted by the Queen herself before they even made it past the courtyard.

Snow reached into her pouch and threw a fistful of seeds at the Queen, the last of the magical beanstalks. Regina laughed and waved her hand, the seeds falling to the ground with no effect. "Child, you can't expect me to fall for the same trick twice."

Belle shouted loudly and charged, thrusting at Regina with her blade; the Queen's eyes widened and she backpedaled, the sword cutting a shallow gash across her side. Belle paused, surprised that she hadn't been turned into a frog or incinerated, and Regina backhanded her with her fist, hard. Belle stumbled and fell, surprised at Regina's strength.

Regina brought her hands up as Grumpy started his own charge, twin flames igniting in them. The dwarf backed up quickly, arching his back and grimacing at the expected pain of being burned alive. Regina smiled wider than ever, laughing madly, "Whoever you are, you almost have what it takes..."

Regina stood calmly and walked over to the large oaken double doors of the castle, which opened as if to her whim, her hands still burning idly with crimson fire. She paused a moment before turning to walk in, "… but you simply aren't merciless enough."

As Regina's form disappeared inside the castle and the doors began to close Snow suddenly shouted, "Wait! Stop her!"

Grumpy rushed forward immediately, but the solid doors slammed shut despite his efforts to push them open, flinging the dwarf across the ground where he rolled to a stop groggily. Belle stood, rubbing at her jaw and giving Snow a questioning look, "Doesn't this give us the opportunity to sneak in another way? I mean, we are lucky she didn't kill us…"

Snow shook her head, smiling at the discovery, "No, that's just it; she didn't kill us, and I know her, she would have if she could."

Grumpy sat up, sharing Belle's look of confusion, "But the fire…?"

Snow ran to the door, her hands probing it in frustration, "She was bluffing! She said it herself; she is merciless, and leaving us alive only serves her if she's trying to escape."

Grumpy stood again and approached the door, eyeing the craftsmanship, "This is very sturdy work; it's going to take some time to break."

Snow looked at Grumpy despondently, "Even worse; it's indestructible, forged with the aid of her magic. I've seen an army break a battering ram on it once."

Grumpy hefted his pickaxe and smiled, "Good thing you brought a dwarf and his enchanted axe then, eh?"

Regina allowed herself to pant with the strain her body, mind and spirit felt now that she was out of sight of her wretched step-daughter. She clutched her heart, which gave her the warning pains, the ones that warned a sorceress that she pushed herself too far.

She removed the fiery illusions on her hands, even that having been an incredible challenge. When that soldier had charged her Regina had attempted to use a shield, but the woman had stepped right through it; a testament to how dispelling those ancient seeds had drained her.

Regina worked to breather evenly, letting calm settle in. They wouldn't be getting in now that she had shut the door, and she would be long gone before they circled around to enter through the debris of the east wing.

At the moment that the thought occurred to her, a sharp metal spike pounded through the door, withdrawing to pierce the door a second and third time as Regina watched, horrified. An overwhelming terror consumed her, and for the second time in her life Regina fled in fear.


	10. Of Savagery and Courage

Regina ran with all of her might, huffing at the exertion upon her already taxed strength. She gritted her teeth, pushing herself to run up flights of stairs as fast as she could even though her legs felt as if they were made of lead. She willed one foot in front of the other because she refused to be beaten, not by her; never by her.

Grumpy swung the pickaxe as hard and fast as he could, but it was clear that his steady effort would still take some time to dismantle the door. An arrow whizzed by and Snow cried out at the near miss, the bolt sticking into the arch of the door right next to her.

Belle growled and pulled her sword, scanning the remains of the castle walls to find the archer who had fired at them. Her eyes widened and she ducked back as several more deadly missiles sought her out. She had seen them now, though, and Belle dashed across the yard before they could draw another shot.

Snow watched as the two archers drew bead on the guard tower that Belle climbed, waiting for her to exit the outer door to fire again. She bent down, picking up a rock and hurling it with all of her might. The stone flew wide of both soldiers, but luck was on her side, and they turned to look at their unexpected attacker.

At that moment Belle charged out of the spiral staircase that led to the castle wall and in two steps closed the distance to the first archer. The startled man tried to bring his bow up to her chest but she swatted him with the flat of her sword as James had done to her many times, and he flew off the wall with a scream, his arrow firing weakly at the ground.

She took another step and brought the sword around in a circle, using the momentum of her first swing to speed up her second, but this archer was able to shoot her, and Belle cried out as the arrow hit home. Clenching her teeth against the pain, Belle continued her course, bringing her blade down at an angle on the archer's neck, cutting his head off cleanly.

Snow saw Belle go down and she screamed, tears welling in her eyes, "Belle, no!"

Grumpy pulled Snow back just as another arrow sought her out, "Don't run across the courtyard! More archers are lining the walls!" Grumpy turned, going into a flurry of swings as he hacked at the door. Arrows ricocheted off of the massive door and its frame, and Snow pressed as far as she could into the shallow depression.

Grumpy kicked mightily and a large section of the door roughly his size burst inward. He pushed Snow as she ducked inside and then leapt in after her.

Midas removed his hand from the attacking soldier's arm, giving the other man a look of pity at his horrified expression that would forever be set in gold. King

Midas swung around to look at the battlefield; there were monstrous trolls everywhere, some of them killing the Queen's men along with theirs.

To make matters worse the strong rhythm of large drums cut through the air and massive forms pushed aside trees as they came lumbering out of the forest. "Ogres…" Midas spat. The seven foot tall man-beasts swatted men across the field of battle with their giant clubs as if they were at sport.

One of Midas' generals spoke up at the sight, "They are all together; these creatures are all part of her army, not just an attack of opportunity."

Midas scowled, "She's proven she is evil in every other way; why not ally with the degenerate beast-folk?"

The general shook his head, "Madness… they would as soon destroy her as us…"

Midas reached forward, touching another warrior who skirmished with one of his knights. The hapless soldier cried out in terror as his body solidified into shining metal. Midas backed away as a score of enemy weapons sought him out, his bodyguard moving forward to stop the advance. "Well today she falls alone!"

Suddenly an orange form darted past and Midas looked to see that the fox had left the command tent and was running for the woods. He looked to the Piper, who exited the tent after it. "Where is it going?"

The Piper scratched at his neck, looking ashamed, "He thought staying unwise."

James ducked under the massive club, the rush of air just above his head a telling sign that failing to dodge any attack from the ogre would mean being crushed to death. The swing connected with one of the Queen's soldiers instead, killing him instantly and sending him flying through the air over the conflict.

A small consolation to James, who could see that the Huntsman stood only a few paces away now. The other man was watching him; James could tell by the way that the Huntsman always faced more or less his direction regardless of which side anyone attacked him.

He is judging how much of a threat I am, thought James. Undoubtedly the Huntsman had been privy to the same hype everyone else had heard about James' notorious skill in killing monsters. Deciding to take a risk in order to intimidate or at least impress his next opponent, James walked inside of the ogres' next swing.

The beast-man looked surprised to see James move toward it so suddenly and its attack shot over James as the prince drew his sword up under its chin, driving the blade through the ogre's head even as it blinked stupidly at the sudden pain.

Enemy soldiers moved away from James and the men who had followed behind him, none daring to engage him after the display. The huntsman approached at the same steady walk he had maintained since exiting the castle courtyard, but stopped short a little more than an arm's reach from James.

James brought his sword up and nodded at his adversary; the simplest acceptance of strength and challenge. The Huntsman surprised him by speaking, "You need not die today; lie down your sword and command the same of your troops. No one defeats Queen Regina."

James shook his head, the only reply needed, and the two men joined swords as each sought the fastest way to end the other.

Regina risked a glance backwards at the sound of pursuit, "Hurry!" She pushed at her father, prompting him forward towards the tall mirror they had stepped out of earlier to arrive in the west tower.

Henry looked askance of her, "We are going… have they breached the tower?" Henry stopped at the dark glass and looked at her with concern, "The other mirror is surely destroyed; will this risk injuring us?"

Regina shook her head, "We'll just stay in my pet genie's little world until it's safe to come out. Either way we'll be safer in there than out here."

Henry nodded and stepped through the glass of the mirror as if it were liquid instead of solid. Regina looked back the way she had come one last time and followed him in.

Grumpy charged up the stairs at a pace snow had difficulty keeping up with. He stopped suddenly at the top, scanning the large tower room and the balcony. Both ran to the window but there was no sign of Regina anywhere.

Snow frowned, "Did she fly away? Can she fly?"

Grumpy shrugged, "You would know her better than I do."

They both scoured the tower for secret doors but finding none they reconvened at the window. Snow wrung her hands in frustration, "I can't believe after all of that, after Belle… that she just got away…"

Grumpy gave her a sad look, staring out at the war below solemnly. It was then that they saw the trolls and ogres, and the havoc they spilled over the freedom fighters. Snow looked over to the giant, who still struggled with the giant plant that ensnared him, his efforts shaking the earth.

Snow gave Grumpy a determined look, "Well if she's not here maybe we can still win the land." She climbed over the balcony and onto the fallen east tower, part of which leaned into the west where they had stood.

Grumpy stared with an open mouth as she ran across the broken rock, heedless of the fatal fall below her. "That's a destroyed building you're crossing; it could collapse out from under you!"

Snow paid him no attention, and Grumpy scowled as he ran back down the tower steps, "Why shall the death of all my friends be bravery?"

Snow kept her eyes on her goal, not allowing herself to look too far down. She knew what she did was incredibly dangerous and foolhardy, but she wanted more than anything else to make sure that Belle's sacrifice wasn't in vain.

Pulling the golden harp off of her back, Snow jumped up onto the writhing giant's shoulder, clinging for dear life and screaming at his ear, "If you want me to play for you, you have to break this little vine! Don't let some beanstalk defeat you, cloud-chaser!"

The giant roared his aggravation, "It moves and pulses like the great and mighty arm of the sky-father himself! It turns my strength back on me!"

Snow licked her lips, thinking a moment before pulling herself to the giant's shaggy beard and tying herself there with strands of his hair that were like rope to her. Moving the harp in front of herself and having both hands free, she played.

At first the music was the same sweet melody as before, the magic of the harp beckoning Snow's fingers to strike the right chords to create the sound of serenity. Snow's jaw worked as she began to push her rage into the instrument, as her hands sought to find their own angry rhythm.

Music blared from the golden harp in a way that screeched awfully and sent chills up Snow's spine, then the harp seemed to accept her willful desire, her despair and her pain, and the melody became magical again, but changed.

The music that poured from the harp was a war cadence now, and the rhyme of it caused Snow's heart to flutter with wild energy. The giant bellowed, seeming to drink deeply of the emotion stirred by the harp, and his massive arms ripped at the plant binding him with renewed effort.

The beanstalk fought to wriggle from the giant's seeking hands, or to pull them to the side, but he was implacable, and his muscles bulged as his voice boomed across the field below, causing many soldiers to pause and look.

With an earsplitting sound the great beanstalk ripped asunder, the giant ripping the remnants of it off of himself savagely. Troops in black armor cried out fearfully as they ran from the thundering giant, who tore a tree from the ground and began to swat ogres in much the same way they had swatted others.

Regina froze; the mirror world that the genie lived in was too dark, and in every other rare case that she had come into his universe, the genie had been close by to greet her coming warmly. She looked around, beginning to panic when she didn't see Henry, "Father?"

An elderly voice, warm and cold at the same time floated from everywhere, "Ah, so this one is your father, how advantageous."  
>Regina scowled into the darkness surrounding her, nothing but shimmering infinity to meet her eyes in all directions. She noticed with a thrill of fear that the mirror entrance she had used to enter the realm was simply gone. "Whoever you are, if you're trying to blackmail me then you obviously don't know me."<p>

The voice drifted to her once more, "Since you won't be going anywhere until Baba Yaga bores of you, I suppose she might as well find out everything she wants to know as well, yes?" The genie appeared, but he looked off, different.

Regina backed away from the dark man whose smile was foreign to her, "Who is this Baba Yaga, and why does she think this will end in anything other than her destruction?"

The man who was and was not the genie shook his head, waggling a finger at her, "You only get one question, dear. Now you answer Baba Yaga, or you will find answers to questions you do not want to ask."


	11. Blood and Fear

Prince James coughed, tasting blood. He lay on his back, the broken pieces of his sword lying on the ground beside him. The Huntsman's blade hovered just above his neck, the other man pausing in a fashion that certainly belied his general manner of delivering swift death to his foes.

When James met the other man's eyes, though, he could see that it wasn't because he was relishing the act that he hesitated, but because the Huntsman was suddenly conflicted. Apparently making a choice the Huntsman drove his blade into the ground instead of into James' throat, going to one knee and bowing his head.

The Huntsman's voice was tired and heavy with regret, "I forsake my fealty to the Queen and offer my neck to your judgment, noble warrior. I can think of no one more worthy of being my executioner."

James stood, the other soldiers of the Queen gasping at the unexpected announcement. Even the men who stood by James stood dumbstruck, having only a moment ago thought that their champion was about to meet his end.

The soldier on James' right handed him a sword, quick to arm his commander and give him the honor of execution of the man who had slain so many of their brethren. James took the sword numbly, staring down at the bowed head of the Huntsman. "You forsake Regina. So then will you swear fealty to our cause?"

If those watching were surprised by the Huntsman's sudden surrender, James' words caused even more looks of astonishment. James stepped forward, using the flat of his blade to lift the Huntsman's head so they could lock eyes, "Fight with us, and ensure that your former mistress rules no longer."

The Huntsman swallowed, a strange fear alight in his eyes, but it passed and his face became hard with conviction as he rose to standing, tucking his blade under his arm and proffering the hilt to James according to tradition, "I swear myself to thee, Prince James, that my arm and blood be yours."

James had not expected the Huntsman to swear onto him personally, but he hid his surprise and nodded seriously, "Then turn and destroy the supporters of tyranny."

The Huntsman turned without a word, and his blade flashed out to claim his first victim before his shocked former allies could even think to lift a defense, and James watched, wondering what it was that the Huntsman so feared that he preferred to die by James' hand than face it.

Grumpy peeked around the corner carefully, wary of the fact that even that could end up awarding him an arrow to the face if even one of the archers outside remained vigilant. Seeing no one Grumpy crept out of the protective cover of the broken door, his mining picked ready as he tensed warily.

The archers were all still there, but facing away from Grumpy, firing their arrows on soldiers outside of the castle. Grumpy licked his lips. He should slip away and get back to the camp where he wasn't outmanned by the hundreds.

Grumpy huffed, and slowly inched toward the archer's backs, sneaking up the steps of the nearest wall tower slowly. If no one else was going to take the wise course today, why should he be the exception? Grumpy could only pray that James and Snow fared better than Belle had.

The first archer never saw Grumpy; he was firing down at the enemy one moment and simply tumbling through the air the next. He didn't have time to scream before hitting the ground. The second archer saw the first fall and cried out in alarm, but was also too slow to avoid the same fate as his comrade.

Grumpy winced reflexively as he saw the third archer take aim; he wouldn't be catching this one by surprise. Grumpy roared as he charged, raising his mining pick and hoping that his yell would rattle the archer enough to shake his aim.

Instead, the archer suddenly slumped forward, landing at the surprised dwarf's feet. Belle stood behind him, giving Grumpy a strained smile, one hand clutching at a wound on her side, "Trust me, you don't want to wear arrows; it hurts like hell, and a real bitch to remove."

Grumpy smiled widely and he ran to help her, "You'll be fine. Quit your whining, girl. Come on, we need to finally start being less stupid and get to safety."

Even with a giant pounding away at their forces, the Queen's army continued to receive reinforcements from the forests, trolls and ogres adding to the carnage of the beleaguered human attackers. War trumpets blared along the ridge to the east, and James, frowned, wondering what further threat they faced.

Instead of more beasts or terrors from the dark a crimson banner fluttered in the wind instead; the crest of King George. Soldiers allied against the Queen cheered all along the confused sprawl of fighting, as the missing army of Prince James' father arrived late but extremely welcome.

The fresh troops charged downhill and collided with the mixed army of beast-men and black-armored soldiers. Finally able to reform their lines, James' forces had the armies of the queen divided, one side pressed to the castle and the other to the forest, the giant's strides carrying him randomly across the field so that only the enemy remained in a state of confusion, his attacks raining down everywhere.

Midas ran to his fellow King Maurice, kneeling over him and frowning at the vicious wound. Maurice still breathed, though, and Midas shouted for his court magician. The elderly wizard ambled over, "Yes, sire?"

Midas pointed at Maurice and commanded, "Heal him."

The wizened man leaned over Maurice and shook his head, "That is a mortal wound, your majesty. It is beyond my skill to mend."

King Midas gave the older man a stern look, "Then gather every indentured mage on this field. Either find someone who can or put all of your heads together to make it happen. You have done nothing to aid us in this our moment of need, so redeem yourself or leave my court!"

The wizard's face paled and he nodded, "O-of course, your highness."

Belle raced through damp passageways, ignoring the pain in her side. Grumpy ran along behind her, a scowl on her face, "Damn fool, you're going to kill yourself; you're wounded so slow down!"

Belle nodded breathlessly, seeing the validity of his point; she wouldn't do Rumple any good if she bled out before she even reached him. Her eyes flitted from one set of iron bars to another. At least in the Queen's dungeon she could see which stalls were empty.

A form moved in one of the cells and Belle called out, "Rumple?"

Belle's eyes attempted to adjust to the dark as she strained to see and she froze as she saw the prone body lying on the simple cot behind the shadowy figure. Belle drew her sword, and the person who stood over Rumpelstiltskin raised their hands in a gesture of peace, "Is this how you would greet your dear Rumpelstiltskin; with menacing steel?"

Belle tried hard to see the speakers face, but the shadows of the cell almost seemed to shift every time she started to get a feel for their form, making it impossible to get a feel for the age, height, or even sex of the speaker, since the voice she heard was distorted and odd, like someone screaming underwater.

Grumpy spoke up, affirming what she saw, "What the hell are you? I can't see you right, and I can see anything in the dark."

Belle challenged the newcomer, raising her sword, "You most certainly are not my Rumple, and if you continue to bar my way to him, or have caused him harm, I will destroy you."

"How intrepid!" the dark figure laughed, a sound that sent thrills of terror coursing through Belle that had no specific source, like the frights she would have at night as a small girl.

The shadowy creature moved in an unsettling manner, walking right through the bars of the cell fluidly. Belle backed away a step, stopping only by asserting every ounce of her will against her alarming and sudden fear. Rumple was in there; she had to stay, or he might die!

Belle licked her lips, doing her best to give her adversary a brave face, so they would know she wasn't going to back down without a fight. "W-who are you?"

A pair of eyes floated up within the black face they beheld, eyes that burned a sickly red color like embers within oil. It was difficult at any point to see which way it faced so far, but now it seemed to look directly at Grumpy, "Boo."

Grumpy shrieked with primal fear, the stalwart dwarf dropping his mining pick and running with abandon back the way they had come. The sight so startled Belle that she stepped back a bit again, but she caught herself and yelled fearfully, "What do you want from us?"

The thing stared with its wild eyes for a moment that seemed a lifetime to Belle, and then began to vanish, leaving her with one final promise, "From you… you don't have what I want now; she does. But once I get what was promised me, I will have it…"

The terrifying being was gone then, fading to nothing before her eyes. Belle turned every which way, looking into every dark corner of the corridor. Finally her eyes locked on the still form in the cell, and she rushed to the door, shaking at the bars.

It was locked. Belle searched, quickly grabbing up the pickaxe Grumpy had dropped and slamming it into the mechanism. The pick tore through the iron, and the door swung open. Belle dropped the pick and ran to Rumpelstiltskin, lifting his head, "Rumple!"

Rumpelstiltskin opened his eyes and looked at her groggily, "Belle…?" he sat up, "Belle!"

They embraced, tears in the eyes of both, for though they had each committed to being brave, finding each other again was almost too good to be true. They continued holding each other tightly, and Belle exclaimed, "I thought I would never see you again, I thought…!"

Rumpelstiltskin shushed her, kissing her gently, "I know; I also despaired. I thought now that finally I was to receive my ultimate punishment for all my evils."

Belle shook her head at him, "Don't ever leave me again; how did you come to be here?"

Rumpelstiltskin's brow furrowed in confusion, "I… I don't know. I simply woke here one night. I assumed it was the queen's magic, but the dreams I have been having, the nightmares…"

Belle drew him close at the ashen look on his face, seeing a touch of what the creature they had encountered had infused in her. "It's alright." She laughed happily between joyful tears, "We are winning; her armies were being routed as we came in!"

Rumpelstiltskin smiled back, "Well, I was thinking you had managed to sneak in here, but that's infinitely better. What of the Queen herself? And you said 'we came in'?" he peered into the shadows around them, "Who else is here with you?"

Belle stood quickly, taking his hand, "Oh… Grumpy! Let's go find him!"

They found Grumpy outside, his hands on his knees as he panted, "I… I've never run like that before… ever…"

Belle hugged him and started to reply, but someone descended the stairs that caused her to freeze. The others turned to see Regina walking out to them, her face pale and drawn. She approached and held her hands to each side, palms open. "We surrender."


	12. A King's Court

Every noble from six different kingdoms crowded King Maurice's castle. While Maurice had been regarded as a genius in military strategy only a year prior due to his incredible success in pulling his armies from what had seemed certain defeat and claiming victory over a neighboring kingdom, no one had thought even he could have mustered such conquest as the Black Queen.

Yet in his hall she stood, her face proud but beaten, her posture tall but chains binding her hands, and soldiers guarded her closely. Seven thrones had been built upon a massive stone dais erected in the central chamber of Maurice's castle.

Six kings sat in these chairs, waiting for the general of their combined forces to present himself, though arguable Prince James had not led King George's men due to his late arrival. James entered the room, noting the silence that fell over the excited rabble of wealthy men and women as he approached the thrones.

King Maurice spoke, "Prince James, I think I do not speak alone when I say that you have proven to everyone here that you are truly the most heroic champion not only of King George's court, but of the entirety of the seven realms."

James could not keep himself from blushing from such open praise, despite how un-princely it looked, nor could he help casting a side-ways look at King George, who scowled at him. "I, uh… I did nothing alone, and without the courage of the soldiers who won the day, I would not stand here to receive such words."

Maurice waved off his comment, smiling, "And modest too. You shall make some princess a very happy woman." James looked up, worry on his face, and Maurice laughed, "Don't worry, lad; your young, I'm sure you'll have plenty of time to adventure first. I understand heroes like you are reluctant to settle down."

Both George and Midas looked uncomfortable at these words, and James sought to change the subject quickly, "Speaking of heroes; a dwarf aided mightily in storming Regina's fortress, as well as a farmer named Jack, the Piper over there, and the sorceress Baba Yaga."

At the name the former Queen Regina's face contorted in fear and impotent rage. King Midas saw the wave of emotion before she recovered her composure and commented on it, "Where is this sorceress of whom I have seen so little, and what exactly has she done to Regina?"

James shrugged, "I honestly don't know, and you already know that Regina refuses to speak to anyone. After declaring surrender she has volunteered not one word."

King George leaned forward, "Perhaps some time with my chief torturer would loosen her tongue."

This caused a ripple of conversation among those present, but Maurice shook his head, "No; let us not step down to her level."

George sighed and sat back, and one of the other kings, King John, raised a hand and spoke. "While we are on the subject of what we will and will not do; how shall we divide the territories now that Regina has fallen and the central lands are open for taking?"

Midas stood, all eyes turning to him, "Regina managed to gain control in the first place because she was able to war on each of us individually and subtly with her military and her magic. I propose that each kingdom recognize a mutual government, with all kings representing their own people but subject to the welfare of the entirety of our lands."

King John was the first to object, "'Subject'? To whom shall we kings owe our loyalty for your proposal to work, and to what real gain?"

Midas nodded, "The reward shall be in a unified military the might of which even the savages to the north or the raiders to the east will never again dare to oppose.

Additionally, with each of us tempering the other in matters of state, trade will increase; I personally promise to ensure that my proposal makes you all very rich."

King George piped in, "A ruling council of kings? Is this why you funded these thrones, Midas? You claim that such a form of government would bring us unity, but all I foresee is bickering lords and disputes in our future."

Midas spread his arms wide, "Should we decide that such a strong alliance will bring mutual prosperity to all, and remove discord between our lands, I elect that our first act be to decide upon one king to bear the burden of ruling the council itself, so that we may not fall into the state of indecision you describe."

The audience hall was deathly silent, and the looks upon the faces of each king were uniquely different but similar in the general feeling of reluctance. Midas smiled and pointed to Maurice, "I will go on to say that I nominate King Maurice to hold the office."

A murmur rumbled quietly through the crowd at this and each other king stayed silent, no one objecting despite the reticence that still hung in the air. Midas' smile widened; he knew they would not be able to dismiss selection. "King Maurice it is who gathered the armies of each land, he who spearheaded the freedom we now enjoy to speak of the future of our kingdoms, not Regina's."

Several kings fidgeted uncomfortably as they felt a change in history and a shift of established power occurring. Midas continued, "King Maurice it is who himself fought to secure our rights as free men; even now he is marked with injury from his valor."

King Maurice frowned but didn't object, and Midas looked to each other king in turn, "Say yay or say nay then, and decide the fate of seven kingdoms for centuries to come."

Each lord nodded or stated agreement in turn, King John remaining silent and King George finally saying 'aye' after the others. At length King John spoke, "We are not all here…" he pointed to the empty throne, "…how can we state all seven agree when King Mordred has no voice here?"

Midas folded his arms over his chest, his voice authoritative, "King Mordred not only did not deign to help us, but my spies report that he is holding our messengers unrightfully.

He wanted no part of the struggle, so he shall not share in the gain. I suspect that he is a matter we will need to deal with… separately."

This did not deter John from questioning further, "Then why even have seven thrones and claim rule of seven kingdoms? Is this an act of war on King Mordred?"

Midas' face grew hard, "We have ousted tyranny and are establishing a form of rule that excludes it. In the best scenario Mordred would join us and take a seat…"

King Maurice continued Midas' question with a heavy voice, "…but Mordred is a known tyrant, and we fool ourselves if we treat him as anything else, don't we?"

King John sat brooding for some time as everyone stood watching with bated breath, and at last he sighed, "Very well, we shall try your idea of a council, Midas. Far be it for me to exclude my people from your arrangement."

A cheer followed and James smiled, glad that the debate had pulled attention away from himself. He started to move away from being at the front of the dais, but King Maurice waved for him to hold. The injured king stood, grunting at the stiffness of his war wound. "Prince James; we can award a prince with only one title greater than the one he is born into…"

James' heart fluttered, wondering what the king could be talking about. King Maurice gestured to the empty throne, "As my first act of power in these lands, I think it best I elect you general regent of our easternmost lands, to handle relations with our reluctant Mordred and to advise us in the art of courage."

The roar of applause from the nobles inside and the commoners who had flocked outside to hear by word of mouth what occurred inside was deafening. James stood aghast, seeing the same expression mixed with a latent rage on the face of King George.

King Maurice went on after the cheering died down enough for him to be heard, "In the regrettable course of this council being forced to oust the lord from his position of rulership, I can think of no one more qualified to take his place than the one who freed the people of his land from tyranny."

James' smile had disappeared. Not freed from tyranny. Not yet. Everyone knew that Mordred's people already suffered under his own rule. He was being forced into conflict with a man whom he didn't even know by the expectation of his peers. These men, these kings smiled as they said it, but they were not really giving him a choice. "Of course… I would be honored…"

Snow put a consoling hand on Belle's shoulder, seeing the anger in her friend's eyes. "I'm sure your father only allows the credit to be his because it secures the politicking Midas has been working for."

Belle's brow furrowed, "It's not just that he gets the glory for it; it's that I had to fight to get him to agree to declare war on Regina. Everyone knows, and they will write songs about how father claimed credit for something he was so opposed against!"

Snow shrugged, "Perhaps, but isn't that the way of the court? Once enough time has passed, no one will be sure what actually happened and the bards will be taken as the exaggerators and dangerously bold opinionated persons that they are."

Belle nodded, "You're right; I suppose I am just irked that father has stolen part of my triumph from me."

Rumpelstiltskin walked up behind Bell, putting his hands on her shoulders and squeezing gently, "Don't worry dearie, you still remain an example of what every princess can be if she puts her mind to it. Surely the tales of your prowess in battle have spread to all of the seven kingdoms by now."

Belle blushed, "Speaking of exaggerations… suddenly I understand what James was saying…"

Rumpelstiltskin cast a look out at the proceedings of the six kings, then smiled, "Now that I finally get to ask; how did you convince your father not to throw me back into chains when we arrived?"

Belled shrugged, "The truth. I told him that every single step we made was your honest advice. He still thinks you used the whole thing to barter yourself free, and I fully expect he'll ask you to leave soon…"

Rumple nodded, a sad look crossing his face. Belle laid a hand on his chest, smiling at him, "Do not worry, love; I will go wherever you do if it comes to that. If my father spurns you so much, he must be made to realize he spurns me as well."

Rumpelstiltskin nodded, but the sadness did not leave his eyes. He took her hands in his and squeezed them before turning to leave. Belle looked after him inquisitively, "Where are you going? They are not done and I must stay."

Rumple gave her a care-free smile, "No worries, love. I need to take a walk and think; I certainly won't be missed as I'm sure your father is anxious just by my being here. Good luck in enduring the long-winded speeches, ass-patting and groveling once the houses start in."

Belle gave him a wry smile, "How gentlemanly of you to abandon me to my tortures." More seriously, "Go on then, I'm sure your dying for fresh air after months in one dungeon or the other, and I can't fault you that."

Rumpelstiltskin nodded and continued on his way. Belle watched him a moment but was drawn away by Snow, who asked who Mordred was. Belle gave her a sober look, "Mordred is what happens when you take a man with the potential to do many things and infuse him with the soul of a common bully."

Belle's pace quickened when she saw that a candle burned in the window of her bedroom.

She raced up the stone steps that looped the small tower of the castle and nodded to the guard who stood at her door before going inside.

The meeting had been long, and having only the greatest lords of six kingdoms bring their concerns to the new council of kings had taken the entire evening, to where Belle's feet were sore simply from standing on the sideline watching.

She called out for Rumple as she rounded into the main chamber, but the smile on her face faded as she realized she was alone. Concern replacing the happiness she had felt, Belle picked up a note left on the table stand next to her bed.

The message was short; it simply said 'I'm sorry.'


	13. Needle in a hay stack

Belle searched for him frantically that night, but Rumpelstiltskin couldn't be found anywhere. She had not bothered searching the castle; since his note made it clear he meant to leave her. All she wanted was an explanation, and if she had to chase him across seven kingdoms, so be it.

Finally growing weary at the third village she had traveled to, Belle brought her horse up to a local inn and tied her to a post. Patting the animal fondly in thanks for the tedious ride, Belle fed her a carrot from the saddle bags and went inside.

As she had with every other inn and bar she had traveled to, Belle looked around, hoping against hope that Rumple would be found hiding in a shady corner somewhere nursing a beer. As with all the others, though, this inn did not harbor her missing love.

Belle approached the counter, running a hand through her long curled brown hair as she tried to plan what to do next. Her wound from the war throbbed, and she fought dizziness in addition to her growing panic. She glanced up at the inn patron, "I'll take a room for the night if you have it, and a strong drink."

The owner of the small inn whispered to his steward and moved quickly to fill her large mug from a bottle of wine that he had pulled from the top shelf. "My lady princess Belle, you need pay no coin to rest at our inn, and our best room is always available to you."

Belle nodded appreciation dully, getting her room key and downing the drink before trudging up the stairs to the room the owner escorted her to. The steward shoved someone along past them and ultimately out of the inn as argument ensued, but Belle didn't see or hear any of it; all she could wonder was 'why?'

Rugged mountains passed James on both sides as his carriage rolled along. He frowned as he gazed out of the window. It seemed as if the further east they went, the more the green verdant lands he had known turned into sparsely vegetated red clay.

Snow White laid a hand on his arm, giving him a smile when he looked her way, "My prince charming… we are finally free of King George; he doesn't dare lay a hand on you now. So why so sad?"

James scratched his forehead as he thought, "It's just this business with Mordred. I agree that it's important, and I know how the people see me, but I can't help feeling that someone more suited to this should be in my shoes, and…"

Snow raised an eyebrow, "And?"

James sighed, "Belle left in a hurry last night. I feel that if I was a good friend I would pursue her and find out what's wrong instead of heading in the opposite direction on some quest for the people that I haven't a clue about."

Snow nodded, pursing her ruby red lips, "I understand. How about we send a carrier pigeon to Abigail?"

James shook his head negative, "She has enough on her plate; King Midas forbids her to marry her knight, Frederick. I'm not sure what she plans, but if I had to guess, our pigeon likely won't find her now."

Snow leaned back, "I'd send the message to Grumpy if I could, but I'd need a courier to do that, which means waiting until we get there."

Snow started suddenly, and then perked up, sticking her head out of the carriage window, "Driver, hold!"

The carriage stopped and Snow got out, walking around with a look of frustration on her face, "Of course nothing lives out here…"

James got out after her, "What are you looking for…?"

Snow swept her gaze back and forth across the rugged land, finally smiling and pointing, "There!"

Snow jogged in the direction that she had pointed, and James stared, trying to see what she was after. As they drew closer, James saw a small orange fox slink out from behind a rock; it's natural color hiding it very well in the red background.

Snow stopped a few feet from the animal, which gazed up at her almost without fear, perhaps with some trepidation. "You feel guilty for abandoning us to the Regina's host, don't you?"

The fox whined a little at Snow's comment. James frowned, "You think he can understand you?"

Snow smiled and pointed as the fox lowered his head, "Doesn't that look like guilt to you? After all that time with him in the command tent, I couldn't

help but recognize him. He's been following us for miles. I think he wants to make it up to us and I have exactly the way."

The fox looked up at that, his tongue lolling from his mouth happily as he yipped agreement.

Rumpelstiltskin had another drink. He had had many, but no amount of alcohol was going to remove the hole he felt in the center of his being. He had chosen between two evils with Belle, and now he had even more to regret.

Rumpelstiltskin laid his head on his hands. It seemed that no matter what who he was would hurt those he cared for. Rumpelstiltskin's thoughts wandered to the family he had enjoyed having once, before his cowardice had destroyed everything that mattered to him.

When he had accepted the power of the curse into himself by plunging a dagger into the former wielder of it, Rumpelstiltskin had at least momentarily convinced himself that the act of slaying the dark one had been courage.

He laughed a little to himself as he lay on the bar; a humorless laugh. He had been so wrapped up in escaping his problems that he hadn't even realized that what he had briefly considered bold was exactly the coward's way out.

The darkness of the curse had almost immediately twisted the very way he thought, but there had always been a distant voice that constantly spoke to him as if from a dream. The old him that was both destroyed forever and immortalized in his own psych.

The problem was now, though. Rumpelstiltskin stared dejectedly into the bottom of his beer mug, watching the foam of his depleted brew run along the interior of it. He frowned; he was still running, so obviously the old him was not so far removed from what he now was.

Rumpelstiltskin allowed his head to thud into the counter in his misery. The trick was; did he want to go back to what he was? Part of what had made him embrace his change so thoroughly had been his own disgust with himself…

Belle slid into the stool next to him and Rumpelstiltskin nearly fell off of his own stool. He set his jaw, looking aware from her searching eyes and into his mug once again. "I suppose I should have spelled it out more in my note; we can't be together."

He had expected perhaps shock or tears, but Belle nodded matter-of-factly to his assertion. She sighed as she put her hand up to hail the publican of the inn, "May I have a strong drink, please?"

The man did a double take before becoming suddenly animated as opposed to the bored, slow pace he had served the others, "As milady commands!"

Belle smiled at him and pushed a golden coin across the counter, "Thank you, kind barkeep." She continued as he opened his mouth to speak, cutting him off, "I insist on paying for your service."

The publican's mouth snapped shut and he nodded, a grateful expression on his face, "If milady needs anything at all, old Howard will see to it, you need only ask."

Belle nodded back to Howard and turned to look at Rumpelstiltskin, who seemed as if he was at a loss as to whether he wanted to sit or stand. "Of course; I'm a princess and you're a public enemy to most. My father still dislikes you and would likely forbid our courtship."

Rumpelstiltskin went rigid as she spoke, his jaw tight as he listened. Belle went on, "Why, if I married you anyway by running off with you to your own castle then… well, I would then be forced to live in a huge luxurious palace alone with the extremely wealthy man that I adore. I wouldn't be allowed to traffic in matters of boring political intrigue, and would be made to do what I wanted in life!"

Rumpelstiltskin looked over at Belle as her tone became increasingly sarcastic, and she smiled at him, "Why didn't you just talk to me instead of assuming you know what's best for me?"

Rumpelstiltskin looked down then met her gaze, his face serious, "It's more than that. I can't risk putting you in the kind of danger my life is going to represent now, especially if coming with me means losing support from everyone you previously called friend."

Belle shook her head, frowning. "No one who spurns me because of my love for you ever knew me or was truly my friend. And if I haven't proven to you by now that I can handle protecting myself then I never can, but I don't think that's really it."

Rumpelstiltskin turned away from her, "There's no point in pursuing this any further, Belle. I'm sorry, but someday you'll realize I've done you a favor."

Rumpelstiltskin started to leave but Belle snatched at his arm, holding him back, and he looked back at her a little surprised by her ferocity. Belle gave him a hard look, "Then I propose a deal."

Rumpelstiltskin raised an eyebrow at her, "I'm not really into that kind of thing anymore, Belle. The curse is gone."

Belle shook her head and gave him a tight smile, "You can't tell me that was the curse. If I had to guess, the curse would have had you be far more direct in hurting people, but you had some control over that, didn't you? You made clauses for people to get out even as you planned their misery."

Rumpelstiltskin closed his eyes, "I… I don't know. I wasn't myself. In any case, I'm not interested in a contract; regardless of how it started, my deal making was a product of the curse and I don't want anything to do with it anymore."

Belle shook her head and gave him a firm look. "You're not going to walk out on me again. Perhaps we should go upstairs to continue this conversation?"

Rumpelstiltskin glanced around, noting that the publican and every patron of the tavern watched them intently, though some of them politely pretended not to. He cleared his throat, nodding; "Fine."

The publican escorted them to the largest room the meager inn had to offer, smiling and bowing quietly before taking his leave. Once they were alone

Rumpelstiltskin finally asked, "How on earth did you find me, by the way?"

Belle smile at him as she sat on the bed, "A little bird told me."

Rumpelstiltskin returned her smile wanly. "The Piper… but why would he have been following me?"

Belle dismissed the matter with an off-handed wave, "It's not really what we came up here to discuss, is it?"

Rumpelstiltskin sighed, folding his arms, "No; I'm not sure why I bothered coming up. I suppose I just wanted to let you say what you must, and get whatever closure you must." He looked at his feet, "Because we can't go on pretending I'm good for you, not after what I've done, not with…"

Belle arched an eyebrow at him, "Not with whom you are? That's what you want to say, isn't it? Well, that's exactly the bargain I was hoping we could strike…"

Belle lunged forward, grabbing Rumpelstiltskin's wrist in both hands and pulling with all of her might towards the bed as she threw her weight backwards. Caught off-guard, Rumpelstiltskin tumbled after her, and she moved quickly to sit up again, pulling his legs up so that he lay across her lap.

Rumpelstiltskin turned to give her a confused look and Belle smiled at him, "I'm going to help you forgive yourself and move on already."


	14. Paying the Piper

Rumpelstiltskin blinked at Belle, at a loss for words. He started to slide off of her lap but she grabbed hold of him and held him in place. Her expression was stern and to the best of his knowledge serious. "It doesn't work like that, dearie; you can't just erase a man's past with violence."

Belle shook her head, "I'm not erasing your past; I'm punishing you for it."

Rumpelstiltskin hung his head, "So you feel I need more than what I've gotten too, eh? Though you did this before in a fit of frustrated rage, I never thought you would attempt it a second time…" Rumpelstiltskin shoved up halfway as Belle grunted, pushing hard to put him across her knees again.

Rumpelstiltskin chuckled, "You're tough for a princess, but I don't have any deal binding me to take this. There is very little keeping me restrained this time…"

Belle nodded, "I know, but you aren't fighting this as much as I know you could, which means on some level that you feel you deserve it."

Rumpelstiltskin drew in breath to speak but instead went silent as what she had said settled in him. He relaxed himself, no longer pushing against her.

"All right, so I am left with a lot of guilt in the wake of all that I have done. But this isn't the answer."

Belle gave him a negative, "This is the deal I wanted to make with you. If a little punishment is all you needed to get started, perhaps a little more can help set your guilt free."

Rumpelstiltskin understood what she was doing and why, but despite her good intentions the thought of what they were doing proved too humiliating to continue, even if it was alone with her. "I think I'll pass…"

Belle shook her head again, "You don't get to choose your penance; that's not how it works. If you dislike this form of discipline so much, then that only makes it all the better. Why not just get it over with? I'm certain you'll feel better afterwards."

Rumpelstiltskin frowned, "Care to make a wager?"

Belle smiled and pushed down on his back, putting him back into position. "I'll only bet on this; I fully intend to make you feel you have paid something back to at least one person who you have hurt." Her face grew serious, "Running away like that hurt me very much."

Rumpelstiltskin looked away from the pain he saw in her eyes. He took a deep breath and stretched out on her legs and the bed. "Fine, do your worst.

You're right, though I certainly wish you could select a less degrading form of punishment…"

Belle nodded, "I thoroughly believe that this shames you; so what better punishment for someone with an ego like yours?"

Rumpelstiltskin harrumphed, "That was the cursed me; the old Rumpelstiltskin is a meek as they come."

Belle raised an eyebrow at him, "I'm not fooled for a moment; perhaps some of what you were has returned, but you are certainly no longer the old you. Your damnable pride in thinking you know what is best for me is why you find yourself in this spot."

Rumpelstiltskin frowned, "I didn't mean to deprive you of choice, but…"

Belle nodded, "Yes, we return to this then; you don't feel you deserve me." Belle deliberately pulled at his trousers, exposing the white skin of his buttocks, "Well I'm saying that all you have to do to prove yourself to me is to endure this; are you having second thoughts?"

Rumpelstiltskin flinched a bit as she raised her open palm, remembering how much it had stung last time. "Of course I am, but if the curse did anything good it was to ensure that I never go back on my word."

Belle smiled meaningfully at that, and then brought her hand down, beginning to swat him in an even rhythm. Rumpelstiltskin squirmed uncomfortably in her lap but otherwise didn't move. "That trait is one of the best, and you need to take pride in anything take it in that."

Some time passed in which neither spoke, and as Belle's hand began to cause Rumpelstiltskin's cheeks to take on a distinct red hue Rumpelstiltskin's legs occasionally kicked up a little, his deep breathing a sign of the distress the sting of her slaps caused him.

In time Rumpelstiltskin grunted loudly with each swat, a pained look on his face when he looked back to her with furrowed brow, "Have you not yet worked out your anger towards me?"

Belle shook her head negative, "I was angry with you for a while after I got your note, but I have thought on everything that has happened and what you must be feeling and let go of that anger. When I met you here and since have felt only determination to do what must be done for the sake of our love."

Rumpelstiltskin gave her a strained smile as he watched her hand arc down to deliver yet another stinging swat. "I'd laugh perhaps if I did not feel myself to be under duress. The thought of this being the salvation of our relationship is sort of sad and definitely humorous in its irony."

As she continued in her painful ministrations the worried look returned to Rumpelstiltskin as he turned his head to look at her again, "Then why do you continue? Did you have a… a set number in mind or something?"

Rumpelstiltskin both did and didn't want to know how much longer she would continue the punishment. Knowing they were almost done would be a relief, but finding out that she intended to push him much further would be sore news to his tortured cheeks and only make the going more tedious.

Instead Belle dismissed both options, "I'll stop when you feel you have had enough." She gave him an intense look, "And I mean really had enough, so that you can feel that you have paid at least in part for what you've done."

Rumpelstiltskin gulped as he considered the gravity of her statement. She was allowing him to decide the measure of his own guilt and trusting him to bring himself to a reckoning. It warmed him to know that she had such faith in him, but the burning sensation in his backside threatened to test his conviction.

After thinking on it a moment, Rumpelstiltskin spoke, "I… I think I would prefer you to decide that."

Belle frowned at him, "That would be easier, but you don't get easy, Rumple."

Rumpelstiltskin bit his lip and stared into the bed sheets in front of him, his hands balling up into fists as he continued to endure her swats. He could hear that her breathing became rough as the continual slapping wore her down, but she kept on bringing her hand down, sweat marking them both for their labors.

Rumpelstiltskin bit his tongue as time went on, not trusting himself as much as Belle trusted him. He didn't understand why she wanted to be with him so badly; the man whose reputation would ostracize her from society for life.

But she had this blind faith in him regardless of why, and Rumpelstiltskin suddenly realized that that in itself would give him the strength her needed. Yes, he needed her hope badly, and by rising to her expectations he could, would be a better person, the man he had always wanted to be but lacked to will to attain.

Tears flowed down Rumpelstiltskin's face as he locked his jaw tightly, each stinging sensation that swept through him a piece of the penance he quietly gave to all of the people he had hurt who could never know how sorry he felt for it.

The steady sound of Belle's hand swatting his naked flesh was the only thing to be heard besides his pained grunts and their mutual heavy breathing for some time. The thought occurred to Rumpelstiltskin that the loud slapping sound might be heard throughout the inn, but he discovered also that he didn't really care. Let the world know.

Eventually Belle stopped, and Rumple looked back to her with raised eyebrows. She panted, "I'm… exhausted… so I think we will call it here for now."

Rumpelstiltskin winced as she tenderly pulled at his britches, pulling them back on over his now extremely sore buttocks. "For now…? Do you intend to continue this once you have rested?" He intended for his question to sound like a joke, but realized to his disdain that a little worry had crept into his voice.

Belle gave him a mischievous smile before her face became serious, "I think you may have let me go on forever, so I'm going to choose to give you a reprieve. But the stipulation is that if you pull anything like what you tried here, I'm going to resume with interest."

Rumpelstiltskin smiled at her wanly, "That's pretty vague… if we're going to make a deal, then you're going to need to be more specific."

Belle shook her head, swatting his shoulder playfully, "This isn't a deal; it's mercy. And I intentionally am making this broad, so don't do anything to upset me, or I'll have you over my lap for it."

Rumpelstiltskin's smile became more joyful, "And what must be done to get you into my lap?"

Belle gave him a sultry look as she stood and then gently lowered herself so that she sat on his crotch facing him. Despite her tenderness

Rumpelstiltskin still winced at the sting of his backside pressing into the bed, but it was easily enough ignored by focusing on the heated look in Belle's eyes.

Belle smiled at him as her hands ran along his chest, slowly feeling him out, "Very little."

They kissed, and as they fell back into the bed Rumpelstiltskin could not believe how lucky he suddenly felt, as opposed to the bleak hopelessness he had experienced only an hour before. "I think this is one deal I cannot pass up."


	15. The East

"But why not, do you not love me in return?" Abigail's eyes were scared and lost, and she could not hide her sudden worry from her voice.

Frederick gave her a sad look, and he stiffened against the rising tide of hopelessness he felt. "I cannot abandon my station as a knight in your father's army. I have made oaths that I am loathe to break."

Abigail bit her bottom lip, her hands balling into fists at her side as she retorted bitterly, "Then you abandon me to sate your honor! Do you not think what we have worth the sacrifice? What are the others to what you and I possess?"

Frederick ran a hand through his hair and sat down in one of the ornate golden trimmed chairs that marked Abigail's personal quarters. "My King, your father; I have stood between him and certain death and I would again. If I relinquish my loyalty for personal gain I would no longer be the man you fell in love with."

Abigail stared at him with visible frustration, but he met her gaze evenly, and finally she also sat with a sigh, nodding concession. "You are right, but that does not remove the fact that if you choose duty over love we will both be unhappy forever."

Frederick gave her a sad smile, "Forever is a powerful word. Perhaps in time your father will decide that his daughter's happiness outweighs the need for us to solidify bonds to any of the other kingdoms."

Abigail returned his mournful stare, and at length stood weakly, giving Frederick a lingering hug, "I must go, then. I have no oaths to father and cannot bear the thought of marrying another." She placed a hand on his cheek affectionately, "I love you, Frederick, and know in my heart that I will always love you."

Frederick's face was a steely mask, impossible to read, and Abigail turned to leave.

James scanned the city that sprawled out before them. The buildings still retained much of the western design he was familiar with, but here and there were exotic, sweeping architectures that spoke of the Far East. The roads were not cobblestone but dusty tracks of dirt that ran between the many booths of the crowded market and around the larger buildings dedicated to matters of state.

Of course, cobblestone was of less use when the ground was already mostly hard rock. James looked down at the red surface and wondered how these people managed to make anything grow to sustain them on such seemingly desolate soil.

"I know; there is little green here. My people are a hard people living in a harsh land." The speaker was a tall bronze-skinned man who wore flowing white robes that matched his well-trimmed mustache in color. He patiently observed James' reactions to his homeland with mild interest, his hands folded behind his back.

James glanced over at him, "If it is so hard to live here, Cyril, why not migrate south?"

Cyril chuckled at the thought, giving James a good-natured smile, "You seem to have as little knowledge of that place as you do this one. For a prince, you are under-educated, child. I will share with you that those lands belong to the marsh and the things that dwell within them. No one moves to the south and lives there."

Cyril saw James stiffen at his comment and lay a hand on the younger man's shoulder, "You have many years ahead of you to become more worldly, no need to take offence. There is something else that keeps us here, though, and I will share this more secret knowledge with you."

James raised his eyebrows at the older man, curious. Cyril smiled and pointed out at the throng of moving people, "We are stubborn! We have endured drought, famine, pestilence, constant attack from savages to the north and marauders to the east, and we have prospered in defiance to them all!"

James smiled at the energy in Cyril's eyes, recognizing a ruler who truly loved his people. His face became more serious as he addressed the regent lord, "And more recently, tyranny?"

The smile left Cyril as the older man brooded, rubbing at his mustache with one weathered hand. "You are blunt, but I appreciate that you did not pander around your intentions for being here. What you are saying would be treason if it left my lips, and I am no traitor to the crown. I have served as regent to this city since the countess Dinah passed, loyal to the King."

James felt uncomfortable; he didn't know the first thing about politics, and he cast a furtive glance at Snow, who gave him a supportive look. Snow lowered her voice a bit, even though the three of them were alone on the balcony, "We cast no shadows on your obvious loyalty; Prince James is only relating to you that as outlanders we have heard little other than the harshness of your lord. Perhaps you have a new light to shine him in?"

Cyril gave her an appraising look and then shook his head sadly. "No… no, I cannot shine my lord in any light other than the one he has painted himself in. Nonetheless I will not tolerate a plot against him…"

James squinted at Cyril, trying to understand what drove the other man to feel as he did, "You want what is best for these people but you follow a man you profess to be a tyrant; do you feel he can still redeem himself?"

Cyril nodded adamantly, "Of course!" He grew quiet suddenly, his brow furrowed in worry.

Snow stepped closer and put an assuring hand on Cyril's shoulder. "Please tell us; I can tell something is wrong. You can trust us."

Cyril glanced at each of them in turn, finally sighing, "I have only been in King Mordred's presence a few times, but he seems troubled; paranoid and brooding. He is quiet…" Cyril's brow drew down, "But his mother is not; Morgan de Fay is quick to shout commands and make edicts as if she sat on the throne herself."

Cyril glanced around, as if suddenly afraid of being overheard despite their privacy, "That woman is bad people. Bad in the oldest ways; a sorceress of the blackest arts I hear."

Snow gave James a surprised look and he did his best to hide his disdain, "Another magic-user. Well, at least we are fairly versed with such persons."

He gave Cyril an appreciative look, "Thank-you for being honest as to what to expect. If it is any consolation, I would see Mordred rule justly as well."

Cyril seemed to relax a little at his words, smiling tightly, "Then perhaps you are the sweet wind of the West come to revitalize our young king. I shall arrange a meeting for you and your lady as soon as my lord permits."

James smiled, "You are a gracious host, Cyril; I will be certain to let the Council know how hospitably we were greeted by the first city we encountered in our eastward journey."

Cyril's eyes lit up, "You have yet to taste my hospitality! Wait until you have savored the fruit that grows upon the vines of the Oasis of Saarta! Come, we feast on foods that will tempt you to never leave!"

Snow and James shared a smile as Cyril turned to stride through the door into the main hall, clapping his hands together loudly to bring forth servants.

His boisterous voice boomed down the passages ahead as James finally allowed himself some optimism about their reception in these foreign lands.

Belle stirred from her sleep, waking up to see that Rumpelstiltskin had caused her to wake by sitting up suddenly himself. He sweated and panted his eyes wide and staring. Belle put a hand on his shoulder, "Rumple? What's wrong?"

Rumpelstiltskin glanced down at her, his breathing becoming more even as the wild look slowly left his eyes, "N-nothing; bad dreams."

Belle sat up fully to kiss him gently and coax him to lie down again beside her, "They are just dreams. Let us return to sleep and perhaps you will have some fonder ones of me?" She gave him a sly smile.

Rumpelstiltskin returned her mischievous look, rolling over on top of her, "Well why restrict such fondness to the realm of dreams, my sweet?"

He was screaming again, crying out in pain at the hundred agonies the careless beast inflicted on him. She could hear the crunching of bones, the piercing wails as her own father pleaded for her to allow him to die, to release him from the torment she had given him over to.

Regina clapped her hands over her ears, tears streaming down her face as she staunchly turned away from the grisly sight, "You are not real! This is not real!"

The darkness around her spoke with a voice that sounded like a thousand icy knives, "Who are you trying to convince? Do you think it was hard to trade him from your enemy? Tell me if his voice sounds false to you…."

Regina heard her father's weak voice then, beaten and bleeding, pained; "D-daughter… please…"

Regina screamed in raw fury and helpless denial, her voice echoing in the inky blackness, "No! Nooooo!"

James awoke after a restless night of half-sleep, despite the luxurious soft bedding supplied to him and Snow by their gracious host. He saw by the pale, drawn look on Snow's face that she had not fared better. She seemed to notice his look, giving him a forced smile as they sought to wipe the sleep from their eyes, "Must be the air here; so very dry and warm."

James nodded and prepared himself, pulling on the fine garments that he was quickly becoming accustomed to as a Prince. No, the thought; a regent lord. He had been told by Maurice before leaving that Mordred respected little beyond power, and he would need to use his higher station.

James and Snow were escorted into a plain waiting room adjacent to the audience chambers where Cyril typically interviewed those that came to him as regent with their concerns. Except today the ruler of the entire eastern province would be seeing James here… James caught himself brushing at his pants compulsively and glanced over to see Snow smiling at him.

She laid a hand on his knee, calming him, "Relax; he has a reputation, but you represent a council of six kings, and even the harshest of men would have to mind your words."

James raised his eyebrows and shrugged, "Six kings… how did I come to speak for six kings, Snow?"

Before she could answer the doors opened and a small man bowed, gesturing that they enter, "My lord King Mordred bids you enter for your audience."

As they entered the audience chamber James saw Mordred sitting upon the throne, slouching as if he were bored; a tall dark and thin boy who struck

James as decidedly young. A woman of middling years stood at his right watching them intently with her head held high, her face immediately and openly contemptuous.

James walked up to the dais, forcing himself to ignore the impulse to bow, and looked up at Mordred as sincerely as he could, "I bid you greetings from the six provinces west. I came today to see how open you are to the idea…"

The dark woman above Mordred interrupted James, "Straight to the demands then, westerner? You do not even attempt to play at small talk?"

James licked his lips, trying to decide how far he could let the King's mother insult him in his present role. Deciding on diplomacy he smiled tightly up at her in answer, "I have never been one for small talk, Milady… I take it you are King Mordred's mother?"

She smiled back but it was a smile without humor that sent a shiver down James' spine, "Yet you pretend you don't already know who I am; the deception of court is obviously not far removed from you. I am in fact Morgan de Fay, and we can drop all pretenses entirely…"

Morgan snapped her fingers, and the guards on both sides of Snow and James lunged forward, grabbing hold of them. James cried out and went for his sword, but the attack came too quickly, and he was pushed to his knees. He looked up at Morgan furiously, "What is the meaning of this? We came in peace…"

Morgan waved her hand and the voice left James' throat, and he coughed. "You came with threats I'm not going to waste my time listening to. Throw them in the dungeons for now; I have yet to decide how best to make an example of them."

She gave James one last cruel smile before a pommel smashed into his skull, and his world went dark.


	16. Prophecies

Belle woke in a cold sweat, blinking back the visions that had caused her to awaken. Her heart thudded in her chest wildly, and she gasped for air, attempting to calm her racing blood. Across from her sat Rumpelstiltskin, a sad frown marking his face as he watched her state of panic. "It's alright, love; just a bad dream… for now."

Belle thought back on what she had seen in her sleep t scare her so, but regardless of how hard she racked her memory it was all gone already, the horrors of her sleep faded away like mist. "For now… what is going on, Rumple?"

The thin man ran a hand through his long brown hair, sighing as he bit his lip. He rested his arms on his knees and stared at the floor as he answered,

"I've been having the same dream every time; it just took a while to realize it."

Belle leaned forward, her brow furrowed with interest, "What dream have you been having?"

Rumpelstiltskin licked his lips, "I see… I see my son."

Belle crawled to the edge of the bed and sat there; taking his hands in hers as she urged him on, "Go on, you can tell me."

Rumpelstiltskin took in a deep breath before speaking, "In this dream I'm having, this nightmare, I see Baelfire… and he's looking down at me because I'm… I'm sliding away, like I'm about to fall."

Belle blinked at him, "Fall from what?"

Rumpelstiltskin waved at the notion, continuing, "I don't know, the very world itself I guess. But the expression on his face isn't fear or even surprise…" he looked at Belle mournfully, "…it's condemnation. He calls me a failure as a father and as a man, and then he brings his boot down on my hands…"

Belle hushed him as his voice broke and squeezed his hands in support. He winced and she looked down, her eyes widening, "Rumple, what happened to your hands?"

Rumpelstiltskin rubbed at the dark bruises on the backs of his hands, his fingers trembling, "I don't know; I woke from my dream to find them like this..."

Abigail reigned in her horse, staring in awe at the majestic city before her. The rounded roofs of the towering buildings defied gravity, and the pristine marble used in its construction practically shined in the heat of the sun.

Abigail shielded her fair brow from that same heat, cursing the dry hotness of this place as she goaded her horse to continue. Perhaps the city seemed all the more glorious for the barren red land that surrounded it. In every direction she looked was nothing but rock and sand with very little vegetation.

Abigail was hailed by several men in flowing white robes, the swords resting on their hips showing that they were guardsman. As they approached she opened both hands palm forward in the universal sign for peace. "I am Princess Abigail, and I have come to meet with my dear friend Princess Snow."

James ran his hand along the wall of their new prison; solid rock, likely the dungeon itself was carved into the mountain, offering no chance for ambitious prisoners break through walls. He sighed; as if such a thing was possible. Only in romantic novels did people wrongfully imprisoned people escape their confinement by burrowing through stone with a spoon.

Snow had been watching him as he had bustled around the room, checking the door and each wall, "Is this place as solid as it looks, then?"

James nodded sadly, sitting heavily beside her on the thatch of straw that was piled into one corner for use as a makeshift bed. "I must admit after all the chaos we've been through lately I constantly thought my end would be short and brutal; I certainly did not expect to rot in prison."

Snow shook her head, "From what Morgan was saying, you may not have to worry about that; I'm sure that 'making an example' of us will likely entail execution…"

James nodded grimly, "Then we will have to make our last stand when the guards come to take us; they'll be expecting it but statistically we stand a much better chance unarmed against a few guards than we do waiting until they take us to the chopping block, right?"

At that moment the door bolt slid open and both James and snow jumped, neither entirely ready for the guards to come yet. James grimaced and fought through this hesitation, charging the door as it swung open. So it was that he gave out a startled cry and tried to draw up short, only to slam into

Abigail as she was pushed into the room.

Abigail and James crashed to the floor, both grunting windily as the guards on the other side of the locking door laughed at James' effort. Abigail pushed at his weight on top of her, "You're going to get yourself killed trying to take out guards by body slamming them!"

James got up quickly, blushing as he apologized and helped Abigail to her feet, "Well, I got you, didn't I?"

Snow looked even more worried now, "I admit I had secret hope for rescue, but please tell me you didn't come alone?"

It was Abigail's turn to look chagrined now, and glanced between the other two, "Well… I didn't exactly realize I was on a rescue mission until I found myself one of the ones needing to be rescued…"

Belle approached her father, the king Maurice, ruler of the South-Central kingdom and speaker for the Council of Seven. Only because she was his daughter had she been able to petition him at all while he was in court, and even then she had been made to wait in line behind a string of nobles.

While she had stood in that line, though, Belle had listened to the complaints of these wealthy persons, and while there were a fair number of needs concerning supplies, taxes, and land rights, almost all of them made mention of a terrible Curse.

Belle looked up to her father and curtsied, "My lord, father, I had come to ask for a healer to be sought for the affliction I see has become known as 'the Curse', but I see now we would need many healers and my faith in finding such persons wanes…"

Maurice scratched at his chin and leaned forward in his throne, "Then what caused you to wait in line to approach me still, daughter…?"

Belle took a deep breath, "I don't wish to cause a panic, but there has been a case where the visions seen have had… real consequence."

A murmur passed through the assembled dignitaries and Maurice yelled for order, bringing quiet to his audience chamber once more, "This is indeed disturbing, and I charge every person here to secrecy until the matter has been examined! I call a recess of court as I see to this personally."

Agitation was evident on the faces of all present as Maurice gave Belle a pointed look and then retired to his chambers. Belle followed him, seeing he was furious when she passed through his chamber door, "Why did you address me with this in a public setting; are you mad?"

Belle gave him a level look, "The person afflicted is Rumpelstiltskin, and I want to make sure that you take this seriously."

Maurice became livid, "Seriously? I have been combing the seven kingdoms for a healer who can brooch the subject of a 'nightmare curse' because of the silly superstitions of peasants, and now my own daughter escalates an already bad situation by involving her insane wizard!"

Belle nodded at him, "And that is why; I had a strong feeling you would think this way. If you don't believe the Curse is real, how are you going to protect your subjects from it?"

Maurice sat heavily into a gilded chair, rubbing at his temples with both hands, "Oh, girl, you are going to be the death of me…"

Belle walked around to face him, catching his eye, "I don't know what I believe but I know what I saw! Rumpelstiltskin dreamed he was attacked and his body shows evidence of the same wounds!"

Maurice waved at the thought, "How do you know the madman hasn't just injured himself to fool you into whatever charade he's playing at?"

Belle slammed her fist into the table in front of them, causing Maurice to jump, "Because I am with him at all times, and because I actually know the man who was responsible for everything you have now!"

Maurice looked up at her, seeing the conviction in her eyes and voice, and finally he sighed, "What do you propose we do about it, then?"

Regina looked up as the arrival of light heralded someone opening her dungeon door. She blinked, wondering if what she saw was a waking moment or the beginning of another nightmare. King Maurice and Princess Belle approached her cell, enough guards escorting them to make the spacious dungeon crowded.

Regina stood and walked to the bars of her small room, staring daggers at Belle. Maurice was the first to speak, "My people claim to have fallen under the sway of a curse; are you responsible for this sorcery?"

Regina smiled at him, but did not reply. Maurice grew red-faced with anger, "I knew it! This witch is behind everything! We shall see how well you smile when your head is on the chopping block…"

Belle intervened, "Father, I don't know that she has confessed such; I think she merely takes amusement from your agitation."

Maurice pointed at Regina, who still seemed amused, "Her silence proves her guilt; she doesn't even try to deny it!"

Belle shook her head, "She doesn't say anything, for that matter…" Belle drew closer to the cell and peered in at Regina, "…you can't talk, can you?"

The smile left Regina's face, and Belle thought she glimpsed sorrow before the ex-Queen sneered and turned away. "If you can't speak, perhaps you could write something to us, to tell us what is wrong?" Regina didn't respond, and Belle went for a long shot, speaking out of instinct, "Perhaps we can help you?"

Silence reigned, and Belle was about to turn away when Regina slowly turned to look at her, strained hope on her face as the woman behind the icy veneer suddenly shined out for Belle to see. Her air of haughty pride was gone, and she dropped onto her hands and knees, scratching at the film of dirt on the floor.

Maurice leaned close to look, "What is she doing?"

Belle answered quickly as she saw what Regina was up to, "She is writing; her message says 'She has my father'…"


	17. Confrontation

"Impossible."

Belle curtsied politely and argued her case, "If you are hesitant to help because of animosity for Regina, please remember that we have come here because she told us you offer hope in what will likely be a fierce magical struggle, and that if you don't you will suffer the same curse we do…"

Maleficent looked bored, rolling her eyes at Belle's earnest plea from up on her tall dark throne. The Queen of Beasts was fair-haired and beautiful, a mature woman who had aged well, but her tight mocking smile was ugly, and she seemed to enjoy their humility too much. "I'm surprised you stand there quietly letting this pampered princess do your arguing for you, Regina…"

Regina held Maleficent's eyes but said nothing, obvious resentment in her eyes. The blonde queen stood, a curious expression dawning on her face, "Yes, something here is definitely off…"

Belle cut in, "Even Regina for all of her pride realizes how much of a threat this thing is and has agreed to allow us to approach you in the spirit of true diplomacy…"

Maleficent threw her head back and laughed loudly, "Yes, you must be bursting with threats, then, Regina! You have never done anything but demand!"

Belle continued quickly, trying to keep the sorceress on the same page, "So you must choose now if you will turn us away simply to spurn your nemesis, or if you will combine your own might with ours so that we do not all perish individually."

Maleficent truly looked at Belle for the first time, as if finally deciding whether or not she were worth the time of day. She gestured to Belle's entourage of nobles from various houses, "I have had no nightmares. While having so many dignitaries show up on my doorstep is convincing; I still see no proof."

Belle met the indifferent look of the sorceress with defiance, "We will not be able to prove the threat of mere dreams until it is too late. As a practitioner of the arts, certainly you know the heavy portent involved when so many are plagued with nightmares at the same time."

Maleficent sniffed at her, but seemed to consider her words. "I'll keep listening because I have nothing pressing to do at the moment; what exactly does your motley crew plan?"

Snow watched at James scratched at the rock, his fingers bleeding and the belt buckle he scraped it with dulled and bent. "My love, what you are doing comes across as more than a little desperate; have we really run so low on options?"

James paused and wiped the sweat from his brow, waiting a moment before speaking, "I'm not trying to carve our way out; I just want to break off a hunk of rock, and then maybe I could use it as a weapon, or bash the lock with it…"

Abigail shook her head mournfully, "That lock is solid iron; no simple rock is going to force it. Please don't get yourself killed attacking guards, James?"

James threw the belt buckle aside in frustration, "Well what do you expect me to do; roll over and let them kill us?"

Abigail grew quiet and Snow chided James, "That's not what she meant; we just don't want to risk you when there might be another option…"

James took a deep breath and sat back, "I'm listening; do you have anything better in mind?"

It was Snow's turn to grow silent, but now Abigail interjected, "What if we played at being sick to get one guardsman to come in alone and attack together?"

Snow and James perked up and shared a look before nodding their approval. James looked at the other two, "Who is going to pretend to be sick; I'm not very good at pretending…"

Abigail pointed at James, "You are; all you have to do is curl up on the floor and groan convincingly. The harder part will be pretending concern for you, so we will handle that part of it."

James lay on the cold stone and positioned himself as Abigail had instructed, beginning to make increasingly louder groans of pain that he hoped didn't sound as fake to the guard as they did to him. Abigail and Snow sat quietly until the guard banged on the door, "Quit your noise in there!"  
>No one said anything, and eventually there was a frustrated sound from the other side before the door opened, two apprehensive guardsmen entering slowly with swords drawn. The foremost guard gestured to Snow, "What's wrong with him?"<p>

Snow shook her head, tears running down her cheeks, "I don't know; he just doubled over suddenly! Have you been poisoning us? His face is as red as a beet!"

The forward guard exchanged a look with his fellow and then crept up to James, the other guard standing back and keeping an eye on the two grief-stricken women. The Guard prodded James with his sword, "Hey, you… get up!"

James had gone deathly still now, no longer making a sound, and the guard leaned forward to turn him over. The guard in the back leaned forward to see as well, so he didn't see Abigail quickly and quietly approach from behind him until it was too late.

Abigail drove her knee up into the guardsman's groin as she brought her head down to crack against his skull loudly. Both Abigail and the guard wheeled away dizzily, and Snow leapt on the disoriented guard, slamming him into the stone wall.

The guard investigating James whirled to aid his comrade, but James snatched his sword arm as he turned, taking hold of his shoulder and wrenching it up behind the guard hard enough to make the other man cry out in pain. The motion forced him to drop his weapon, and Abigail, now recovered, grabbed it up and drove it into the helpless guard's belly.

Meanwhile Snow went into a frenzy of motion, slamming the dazed guard's head into the wall until he fell limply in her grasp to the floor. James took the second sword, leading the way out of the cell, "Come on; if we weren't making friends before, they'll be really upset now."

"I'm surprised she returned to the same place…"

Maleficent rolled her eyes at Belle, "And why wouldn't she? If she's as mighty as you say, what would a witch of her skill have to fear from the common rabble?"

Belle ignored her snide remark, stepping forward to address the house in front of them instead, "Cabin, turn your back to the forest and your front to me."

The door appeared as it had the last time on the front of the little hut, and Belle marched forward to enter, Maleficent, Grumpy, and Regina in tow. When they entered the house, the first thing that Belle noticed was that the place looked different.

It was similar in all ways to the organic nature it possessed before, but everything was placed differently since the last time, walls and arches in the ceiling occupying new positions. All was quiet when they entered, and the door slammed shut behind them.

Even Maleficent said nothing to break the silence, so Belle spoke up, "Lady Baba Yaga, we have come to see if you would consider returning what you have taken to us…"

The blonde sorceress shot Belle a look, "I thought this witch was the one who cursed us; what are you playing at?"

Before Belle could reply a cackling voice filled the house, "Delightfully pleasant you are, sweet princess; I do not think I have ever before been called a 'lady'. If you think simple flattery has saved anyone from me, though, I suggest glancing at the piles of bones that litter the floor. Some of those men were very pleasant… deliciously so…"

Baba Yaga's face appeared in the ceiling, the fleshy tissue there making a crude representation of her visage. A hole of a mouth opened to speak; "Now why would you want to help restore to power the very sorceress you worked so hard to overthrow? I have a reputation for being fickle, but your actions confuse even me."

Belle answered readily, worried of the glare that now colored Maleficent's face as the sorceress began to realize what was really happening. "You don't have to return her magic, but we need her aid to fight a curse, and she wants her father back before she will help us, and…"

The face above watched her curiously, raising a strange eyebrow, "And…?"

Belle took a deep breath, "…And it isn't right that you stole her family away. I know I asked for your help in the war, but I did not wish that fate, even on Regina."

The room seemed to grow a little darker, its various windows simply allowing in less light. Irritation filled Baba Yaga's voice, "Regina was an arcane prodigy; there was no other way to force her to willingly give me her sorcery. Or did you think I really cared about your pathetic little nation?"

Belle licked her lips, "Well, you have it now, so why not return her father to her; surely you have no further need for him?"

Baba Yaga's homunculus only stared for a moment before replying, "No. I find him amusing, and when he ceases doing that I plan on eating him."

Belle shook her head, her voice pleading, "But why? If you return him we can do the whole world a service in removing a curse that surely affects even yourself…"

Baba Yaga's voice carried the note of finality, "Because I've already done you your favor, and I do believe I have explained that no one gets two. Besides… you can't curse me, morsel; I am already cursed."

Belle stood there for a moment before finally replying, "Baba Yaga, if you do not surrender Regina's father, we will take him from you…"

Maleficent laughed, "Well knock yourself out, princess; I can see that I wasted my time coming here, and leaving you to become this witch's snack will be a fitting reward for your efforts." Maleficent turned to the door, but drew up short when she saw that there wasn't one.

The insane cackling filled the room again, and the wicked face above them grinned, "Oh that's not how this works! If Baba Yaga doesn't grant you favor, then you grant her one…"

Maleficent glared up at the face haughtily, "And what could you possibly want from me?"

Baba Yaga's visage stared down hungrily, as numerous great, clawed hands began to grow from the floor, moving menacingly towards the four, "Your innards… your flesh….your very soul!"


	18. Bravery and Recklessness

Maleficent barked out an angry laugh and threw her hand up, her magic sweeping before her in an arc of destructive force. All of the writhing hands froze where they were, thick ice sheathing the groping appendages.

Deep, malicious laughter boomed from everywhere in the house as the very walls shook. Grumpy cried out and hurled himself into Belle, knocking her off of her feet as a mouth full of razor sharp teeth opened under where she had been standing.

Similar gnashing mouths opened under Regina and Maleficent, but having seen what had nearly happened to Belle, the wary sorceresses dodged away from the fearsome maws. More continued to open, however, and the group would soon run out of places to stand.

Maleficent roared her anger and her eyes changed, becoming decidedly reptilian, "We shall see who eats whom!"

Regina sprinted away from the blonde sorceress, knowing what was coming, as Maleficent's form began to grow, black scales replacing her skin as her teeth became pointed and her hands grew into claws. The house grew still and quiet as Baba Yaga seemed to realize what was happening.

Suddenly everyone was outside, as dry grass crunched underneath Belle's hands and she looked to see that the cabin had simply disappeared. Baba

Yaga sat upon her floating mortar, watching as Maleficent roared bestially and reached her full draconic height.

As a dragon, Maleficent's sheer size would have ripped Baba Yaga's house apart, and rage marked the old crone's face showing that she had realized that. "You upstarts always think bigger is better… let me show you why the North fears my name…"

Baba Yaga drew a circle in the air, a green swirl of mist following her finger then shooting out to encompass the hulking form of Maleficent. The great beast roared as if the mist pained her and she sought to charge forward, but she fell, the smoke covering her completely so that the others couldn't see.

Baba Yaga cackled in triumph, but drew up short as she suddenly became rigid, her eyes widening. "Who…?" The old crone snarled as she whirled around to see Rumpelstiltskin, who held a small box in one hand and a black, beating heart in another.

Rumpelstiltskin was covered in muck and dirt, but a wide smile covered his face, "I knew why you always put your house in the same place. Give

Regina her father or I will crush this in my fist and send you to the unimaginable hells awaiting you."

James, Snow and Abigail trod carefully as they navigated the dismal corridors of their prison. None of them knew the twisting corridors of the keep, and bumping into a large group of guards would put a quick end to their attempted at escape.

Snow paced in front of the others, holding her hand up occasionally when she needed them to pause so she could listen ahead. Having spent years of her life evading others gave her a strong intuition when it came to sneaking around.

She held up her hand and this time shot a panicked look back at James. He knew what was wrong immediately; a very large group of soldiers were coming, and a glance back the way they had come told him they wouldn't be able to retreat in time.

Gripping his sword, James flew around the corner with a harsh battlecry and drew up short as Cyril held up his hands, "Whoa! Do not slay me, Westerner!"

James halted and the soldiers surrounding Cyril all drew their blades, but the noble gestured for them to stand down. "I wish no violence between us."

Snow and Abigail cautiously rounded the corner, watching Cyril and his retinue cautiously. James spoke first, "Not that I want to fight, but why aren't you trying to stop our escape?"

Cyril smiled and shook his head, "I would only betray my lord if I aided his enemies…" Cyril pointed to the corridor to the west, "…but for people who so obviously do not intend my liege harm I shall simply direct to the exit."

James shook his head, confused. "If you are willing to help us like this then you know Morgan de Fay is using your king like a puppet. Help us deal with her! Obviously you know she is bad for your kingdom…"

Cyril shook his head sadly, "The King's mother is not an enemy I seek to make. Even if it were not for her black sorcery, which is heralded as the greatest in the land, Lord Mordred would likely frown upon an attempt to assassinate his dear mama…"

James hissed in annoyance at the politics barring Cyril from offering real support. "We don't have to kill her; we just have to subdue her... if only because you know it's the right thing to do!"

Cyril turned his back to James, the soldiers with him quickly following suit. He spoke over his shoulder without looking at James, "I am sorry, Westerner. Even if such a thing were possible for mortal men, that would defy Mordred's will, and that I cannot do. Be gone."

James cursed and looked over to Snow and Abigail briefly, turning as well to run down the hallway Cyril had indicated. Snow and Abigail followed, the three of them making haste as quietly as they could.

Baba Yaga sneered, her hands extending threateningly toward Rumpelstiltskin as she slowly floated closer to him. Rumpelstiltskin dropped the box and held out a hand in warning as he applied slow pressure to the object in his other hand.

Baba Yaga hissed and barked a curse at him in a tongue none understood from a language long dead. Rumpelstiltskin blinked back the nervous sweat that trickled down from his brow and threatened in a shaky voice, "I understand it isn't wise, this, but don't believe that if you don't back off now that I won't take the safer route and kill you."

Belle had expected to feel something akin to triumph once Rumpelstiltskin's plan to corner Baba had succeeded, but the crone didn't look afraid as much as enraged, and suddenly she felt as if they were holding a lion at bay with a stick.

The old woman growled at him but stopped advancing, the mortar disappearing as she floated down to stand on her own gnarled feet. Hunched over as she was, she was almost as short as a dwarf, but that did little to relieve the air of menace surrounding her. "Then why haven't you killed me yet, fool? Is it because you know I won't descend into the abyss without taking your worthless hide with me?!"

Rumpelstiltskin licked his lips, maintaining his stance as he held the blackened heart aloft. He spoke quickly, "Because I would rather have you on my side, actually. Believe it or not, I know exactly how ruthless and dangerous you are. But I also know you value and respect cunning and the given oath."

Baba Yaga paused and ground her teeth a moment before addressing him again in a less frightening voice. "You know far too much for a mortal. What oath would you dare demand from Baba Yaga, cunning little man from the South?"

Rumpelstiltskin smiled, relief finally starting to replace his fear, "Nothing much really, I just want to make a little deal…"

"Mother… I have heard rumors that the peasants think of me as a tyrant again…"

Morgan de Fay turned to regard her son with an annoyed look from where she stood at the tower window. "Then use your source of the information to discover exactly which peasants are spreading such vicious propaganda and make examples of them."

Mordred frowned as he moved across the room to sit in one of Morgan's elegant chairs. "Is that not the act of a tyrant, though, mother?"

Morgan walked over to give him a severe look, "Don't be a dolt, Mordred. The word 'tyrant' is simply a meaningless concept waved about by disloyal peasants who chafe at their lot in life. No monarch holds their power by being weak. Your father felt he should bend to the will of the masses and look what happened to him."

Mordred nodded but averted his eyes, obviously not entirely convinced. Morgan took his chin in her hand and turned his head gently until he looked into her eyes. She leaned close and spoke in a far more soothing voice, "Put your fears aside, my son. No rumors bred by peasants will topple your throne, and your lineage shall rule this land until the end of time, as is your right."

Mordred nodded again, but still voiced concern as she began to leave the room, "What of this alliance of six kings? Is it wise to anger them like this?"

Morgan turned and gave him a dark smile, "Six kings or six hundred, our kingdom has never buckled under siege from any enemy, and never will. If these pompous Lords from afar think they can force us to bend knee to them, they are welcome to try…"

Morgan descended from the tower into the main chambers of the castle and from there followed winding stairwells down past the dungeons and the cellars where no one trod anymore. Here spider webs brushed at her robes and she lit a torch from a sconce in the wall to light her way.

After passing many long unused doors she paused in front of the one she wanted, glancing around despite being alone before unlocking it with a key that was on a chain that hung from her neck. She opened the door and stepped inside quickly, shutting the door behind her.

The small room was empty save for a table in the center of the room, with a green dully glowing crystal ball that simply hovered over the table. Morgan approached it cautiously, glancing into its depths with an apprehension that neither her subjects nor even her family had ever before seen. "Nameless One, I have come to seek vision."

The mists within the globe swirled faster, and its sickly green glow brightened. A voice that wasn't a voice whispered into the most guarded parts of her mind, "What do you offer this time, Morgan de Fay? You no longer have innocence to trade for power; you lost that when you sought my aid in destroying your own father, Merlin."

Morgan's face paled at the sinister touch in her thoughts, and she nodded, "This is true, Dark One, but I believe I have learned what else I can do to please you for this gift. I shall build a dynasty ruled with an iron fist in this land, and every person in it will dread my son, who shall inspire terror in the hearts of our enemies to the West. "

A few seconds passed, and Morgan's heart fluttered wildly in her chest. She had believed herself to have conquered fear a long time ago under the tutelage of her father, the grand wizard Merlin, but the creature she communed with now was fear, and nothing could stave off its power over her heart.

Morgan knew the reply did not need so much thought, especially not by so ancient an entity, but she also knew it wanted her to writhe, to torment her. Morgan took steady breaths, fighting off the strong urges to panic that likely originated from the one she was talking to.

Finally it spoke, causing Morgan to jump despite herself, "I have heard the same promise from the lips of another recently… and she fell to those same kings of the West. What makes you think you will be any more successful?"

"I am committed… I gave up my father to claim rightful power for my son, and I have already absconded to you Merlin's sphere and the enormous power it possesses. Have I not shown my loyalty to your ends?"

Shivers ran down Morgan's spine as it spoke again, "Loyalty means nothing to me; only power. This other sorceress promised me something as you did, but unlike you she failed to deliver on her oath. I will grant you vision, and you shall retrieve for me what is mine…"


	19. Trickery

The three of them had been running for so long that when Snow signaled that they were safe all three practically collapsed from exhaustion. James had been certain that once they had intermingled with the crowd of persons who had been milling about the castle square that they would be caught.

Despite having radically different clothing than those around them, though, it had seemed as if no one really cared. Besides the occasional glance their way, no one seemed too put-off by the oddity of three strange foreigners walking through their midst.

It seemed to Abigail as if they all had something heavier on their minds, and when she shared this thought with the others, they had to agree. There was no laughter or mirth and even the market area of the square seemed subdued and melancholy.

A guard had eyed James as they had passed through the castle's gate, and the young prince had tensed, preparing for a desperate and hopelessly outnumbered battle. But after a moment the sentry's gaze passed on to another traveler and James had breathed a heavy sigh of relief.

Once they had gotten through the thickest part of the township surrounding the castle, the three of them had broken into a run until they had come to the farmstead they now rested at. They hunkered down behind the large barn and drank in the rich dry air.

Once she could speak Snow complained, "What is with this land? No forest to hide us… any direction we take we will still be seen for miles!"

James nodded, his jaw set. "Yes. We won't get very far in hostile country without horses anyways. We are going to have to secure help."

Abigail's brow furrowed in query, "But who will help us? Did you have any more noble friends here?"

James shook his head dismally, "…No. Honestly, I was surprised Cyril helped us like that."

Snow slumped against the barn with a sigh of despair, "We hardly know this land, and we are supposed to lead a rebellion from inside of it? Such brave souls are rare and I'm sure hard to find... after all, everyone here seems to be afraid of Mordred and his mother."

Abigail perked up, "Wait… maybe we are aiming too high; perhaps we shouldn't seek out the most altruistic people to right this country!"

Snow and James glanced at her in confusion and Abigail explained, "It would be hard to find good people who might do something to better their country, but it might not be as hard to find the opposite; thieves and mercenaries."

James raised an questioning eyebrow, "That's all fine, Abigail, but you are considering the bed we would be making consorting with such people… and what makes you think the local criminals aren't happy with the way things are?"

Abigail smiled, "Because the first things anyone hears about this land are the tales of the greatest thief the world has ever known, and every story I have heard has indicated that he is opposed to tyranny like Mordred's."

James looked to Snow and shrugged; he had never heard the tales Abigail spoke of, but by Snow's smile he could tell she had. Snow nodded, "All right… I'm not sure where to start, but this idea is better than waiting to be recaptured."

Abigail's smile widened, "Great, let's go find Aladdin."

When it grew dark they snuck away from their hiding place on the farm and back into the city, which was alight with torches. Deciding that the best place to look would be the seediest taverns they could find, and limited to such by the time of day anyways, they started there.

Finding the notorious prince of thieves was a great deal more difficult than any of them had expected. Sure, everyone knew of Aladdin, but asking where he might be found only resulted in either laughter or suspicion.

After visiting three taverns in this fashion and coming away empty-handed, Snow frowned as she admitted defeat. "We can't keep doing this; we are going to draw attention to ourselves. As fantastic as it would be to find this Eastern hero, I suppose we should have known better than to try to locate someone who has evaded this land's law for so long."

Abigail nodded with resignation on her face. They moved to a narrow alley to stay out of view as they spoke. James ran a hand through his hair, his mind racing as to what they could do now. "It's dangerous, but we might need to steal some horses and ride out of here before sunrise. The longer we stay here the more likely we end up back on the chopping block."

"Steal horses? Do you not know that in this land that is an offense punishable by death?"

All three whirled to see a young, thin boy who leaned on the building behind them, chewing on a straw of grass. James' hand had gone to his sword hilt but he didn't draw. He replied in a determined whisper, "It is the same in our land, but if we do not, we will be killed anyways."

The boy smiled, "Isn't it ironic that you would be thrown into jail as criminals when innocent only to become criminals to escape?"

Abigail raised an eyebrow at him, "How did you know we escaped from jail? Is it that obvious?"

The boy shook his head, sweeping his hand around grandly as he continued to smile, "This city has eyes and ears in the very walls! I know also that you clumsily attempted to ferret out Aladdin himself… silly foreigners. Did you need that much help to steal a few horses?"

Snow stepped forward, "We don't really want to run; we hoped to find Aladdin because he is known even where we are from, and we don't know any other way to oppose Mordred's mother."

The boy's eyes widened, "You wanna pick a fight with Morgan de Fay!? You Westerners are insane!" The boy leaned back again to continue chewing on his straw of grass, "Why? And what do you think a street urchin like Aladdin could do?"

Abigail crossed her arms over her chest, "So you know him?"

The boy smiled again, "Yes… but I'm not gonna bother him with this unless you can tell me why you'd want Morgan de Fay overthrown… are you gonna set yourself up in her place? Maybe she had good reason to lock you up…"

James nodded, "I won't lie to you; if Mordred fails to change his manner of rulership after his mother has been absconded… the council of six kings has commanded that I become regent for this country. It is my hope though that Mordred can be reasoned with; Cyril seems to believe he can be."

The boy's brow wrinkled, "Who's Cyril?" He stood away from the wall and walked up to James, standing up on his tip toes to stare at James face to face. James frowned at him and the boy asked, "Where do you come from that you think you can rule our kingdom?"

James was unruffled, replying simply, "I was a farmhand that became a prince."

The boy blinked at him and then suddenly grinned from ear to ear. "You're perfect! Now what can Aladdin do for you?"

Snow blanched, "Wait… you're Aladdin?"

Aladdin smiled at her, "The one and only! I stole Ali Baba's entire hoard of gold and the loyalty of his ninety-nine thieves when I was nine!"

Abigail stared, "Really?"

Aladdin waved a hand at her and laughed loudly, "No, of course not! Don't believe everything you hear in stories, lady! But…"

Aladdin whistled and a few moments later they heard a flapping sound on the wind. Looking up they watched as a carpet flew down to hover just in front of Aladdin. The wiry boy hopped on it and gestured for them to follow. "…I am a very lucky boy, and I have a few tricks that just might help you."

Even without the flying carpet, it was obvious from the way he leapt onto the wall and nimbly climbed into the tower window that the castle would not be able to bar Aladdin entry. The carpet floated closer and the other three clambered somewhat less gracefully into the window.

Once they were inside Aladdin held his finger to his mouth, beckoning them to be silent as he slipped around a corner. After a few moments he returned with a grin on his face, "All clear."

On rounding the corner James' hand shot to his sword at the sight of a guard sitting with his back against the wall, but on closer inspection it was apparent he was sleeping. Aladdin smiled again, "You are very jumpy."

Snow held a finger up to her own mouth, a panicked look on her face as they all looked to the sleeping guard. Aladdin laughed, "You are too! I threw this in his face…"

They all peered at the strange white powder Aladdin had wrapped in a cloth at his belt. "It puts them to sleep for at least a few hours, and nothing will wake them."

Abigail smiled at Aladdin, "So you are full of tricks… got one to deal with an angry and extremely powerful sorceress?"

Aladdin smiled back, "Yes in fact! I call it 'don't let her wake from sleeping'. I'll put some of this on her as she is resting and we won't have to worry about her sorcery… even Merlin had to sleep sometime."

Snow smiled at Aladdin's energy as did Abigail, but James couldn't help but still feel nervous. A lot could go wrong if they found Morgan de Fay was experiencing restless sleep. "You are sure this is the right tower?"

Aladdin nodded, "I know every inch of this place and how it is used. I often trespass here just for the fun of it."

Aladdin led them through a series of turns, putting two more guardsmen to sleep on the way. James managed to glimpse how he did it on the last one. The boy crept up all the way to the guard's back and then smoothly reached around him, pressing the cloth to his mouth until the guard's eyes rolled up and he fell to the floor.

Their journey ended at a massive set of double doors and Aladdin crouched there for a long few moments simply staring at it. James leaned in and whispered at the boy, "What's wrong?"

Aladdin's expression was unreadable as he replied, "There is usually two guards here on either side facing toward us. I had expected this part to be hard… but there are no guards."

Abigail smiled, "Then it's our lucky break!"

Aladdin smiled, "I told you I am lucky. I will go ahead and creep in, putting the sorceress to sleep. Then I'll need help carrying her, so come in a few minutes after me; that should give me plenty of time." He paused before heading off, "Come quietly just in case I needed more than a few minutes…"

Aladdin smiled widely at their worried expressions and stealthily glided to the door, pulling a small vial from his shirt to oil the hinges of the massive doors before he deftly opened it and slipped inside.

The waiting was tense, and no sound at all issued from the room through the open door. After a few minutes had passed James began to breathe easier even if not entirely relaxed. He imagined that a personality like Morgan de Fay's would likely be loud when roused, so the silence suggested that Aladdin had succeeded.

They all crept forward slowly, being as quiet as they could just in case and slipped into the room one by one. It was darker than James would have expected, and he stopped after walking a few feet inside, waiting for his eyes to adjust to the nearly pitch black environment.

Before they could though, torches suddenly flared to life and the door slammed shut behind them. Twelve guards stood across from them, one of which held Aladdin, one hand clamped over the boy's mouth.

Morgan de Fay herself stood at the opposite side of the room, a smile on her face. "I might have congratulated your intelligence in escaping a dungeon that has never been escaped from… but then you tried to use a little thief to defeat the most powerful sorceress there is. Obviously you all fail to understand that a little fear is actually good for you."


	20. Avarice

James froze, looking to his left and right at Snow and Abigail, then glancing back to the shut door. Finally, his eyes rested on Aladdin, taking in the dagger the guardsman held to the boy's throat. James raised his hands in surrender, "Why don't you let Mordred decide what to do with us, then?"

Morgan de Fay laughed and shook her head, "Better that we not even trouble Mordred with your foolishness. My son doesn't need to give the command to relieve us of idiots like you. I would most certainly execute you right here."

Abigail cocked her head at Morgan's strange use of words, "You would?"

At that exact moment the nearby window erupted in a shower of glass, and all of the guardsman present turned to see what was barreling in at them.

James was certain that whatever was bursting into the room would be very important, but his eyes were only on Aladdin as he jumped on the only chance they might have to save him.

Aladdin actually smiled at James as he charged, and timed pushing the guard's hand away to slip free to just as James slammed into the unwary man.

James struggled with the knife and pulled it from the guard with surprising ease. Looking down as he sprung up he saw that his opponent was unconscious.

No… not unconscious. Snow bent down to one of the guards, all of which laid upon the floor now. She put a hand on his chest, then looked up at the new intruders, "Why kill them, couldn't you have put them to sleep or something?"

Baba Yaga gave Snow a fearsome grin as she floated into the room, landing softly on the floor before them. "I'm making a point…" she glanced over at

Rumpelstiltskin, who had floated in behind her, "…did you get my point, dear?"

Rumpelstiltskin's face was ashen white as he glanced over the score of suddenly dead men, "…Yes." He quickly surveyed the room, "Morgan le Fey is not among them."

Belle pointed to a door at the back of the room, "Even as we entered, I saw someone going through that door."

Baba Yaga set off hobbling toward the indicated door, the others following her warily. Belle wasn't sure if she was more worried about Morgan de Fey or the company they currently kept. Baba halted in front of the door a moment, staring at it.

Aladdin had sidled up beside her, the only person in their group who didn't know or didn't care to fear the crone. "Why don't you open it?"

Baba Yaga whirled to glare at the boy, "We are facing a sorceress, are we not?"

Aladdin only nodded, and Baba continued, "Then it is cautious to say that she may have bespelled the door; if you were in the lead, walking through this door and falling into Pythos the realm of snakes would have been a possibility, I see. Now shut your mouth, important people are assassinating each other."

Rumpelstiltskin shook his head, "We agreed; we are going to subdue her."

Aladdin grew quiet and after a moment Baba opened the door, looking back at him with a grin, "Well, no spellwork, so perhaps you would have been a lucky boy…"

Aladdin beamed at her, "I am a lucky boy!"

Baba rolled her eyes and forged ahead, seeing that the door led to a stairwell leading down. She paused again and Aladdin piped in, "Are the stairs magic too?"

Baba gave him an annoyed look and Snow pulled Aladdin away from the old witch, "No you little beggar; she is going down… which is not the direction anyone escapes to. We have trapped her and she knows it. Any corner we turn now could have her around it, prepared to fight to her death."

Rumpelstiltskin interjected again, "But she isn't going to die…"

Baba glanced at him coolly and then turned to begin a slow march down the rounded stairs. She growled to those behind her as they went without turning, "Keep the little brown brat quiet or I will silence him permanently; I would rather she not hear us coming."

Aladdin looked irritated but James put a hand on his shoulder, shaking his head and putting a finger to his lips. Aladdin looked peeved but kept his mouth shut, wisely not testing the crone's words.

The stairwell led down to a long twisting hallway that was dark and gloomy, a strange mist hovering just above the floors adding to the foreboding look of the deepest part of the castle. Baba kept cocking her head to one side or the other, as if hearing something the others were deaf to.

They came across intersections several times, but the crone paused only a moment each time before turning with a sense of surety that her course was correct. Belle wanted to ask her how she knew which way to go, but speaking to the hag was undesirable enough to override her curiosity.

Finally Baba Yaga stopped at a massive opening to some ancient room long forgotten, cobwebs stitched across the angles of it. She stared into the murky blackness of the room beyond cautiously and then her eyes widened.

Baba cackled in delight and practically ran into the room, her gait awkward and belying her age. The others followed and saw as Baba drew close to a table in the exact center of the room that an object on that table began to glow.

It was a small sphere sitting on a satin cloth, and the closer the crone drew to it the more brightly it glowed. Raw avarice played itself over Baba's grinning face as she reverently reached for it, "Such power… one can see any truth and the lies beyond truth with this!"

Aladdin cried out, and James turned quickly to see the boy leap back through the doorway just before a massive stone slab slammed down into place, trapping them in the room. Despite the resounding sound, Baba only had eyes for the orb, and continued to reach for it.

Rumpelstiltskin spotted the trap immediately and lunged for her, "No don't!"

It was too late, though, and the witch gave out a startled cry of dismay as her hands graced the ball resting on the table. The bright golden glow it had been emitting turned a sickly green, and even from where he was Rumpelstiltskin could see something dark and black swirling deep within the orb.

Baba Yaga screamed and Rumpelstiltskin was blown away from her and the crystal ball, slamming into the stone wall hard as he grunted out his shock, winded. Torches sprung to life all around the room, illuminating them all and making it clear that Baba Yaga had simply vanished.

Snow, Abigail, James and Grumpy stood looking at each other, all of them hearing the sound of stone grating against stone coming from every wall.

James licked his lips as he watched Belle help Rumpelstiltskin to his feet, "I don't suppose you brought any more sorceresses with you?"

Belle shook her head, "We had to leave Regina and Maleficent behind; they hated both each other and the witch we did bring, and neither of them could be trusted."

The walls rumbled some more a suddenly two stone slabs slid aside to reveal to doors opposite the now sealed one they had entered from.

Rumpelstiltskin dusted himself off and turned to address the rest, "So… right or left?"

As if to hurry their decision, the wall behind them began to move forward in a slow pace that promised a path toward the opposite wall. Snow glanced around at the moving stone, "If she was going to crush us, why open doors?"

Rumpelstiltskin swore, "We are being herded, let's go left; everyone stay together!" As he spoke Rumpelstiltskin jumped through the chosen door,

Belle close behind him. The others moved to follow but the stone that had slid aside to grant passage now returned with a resounding slam to bar the others from entering.

James saw the wall behind them was gaining speed, "The other door, quickly!" They all ran as fast as they could now, only one escape route from certain death removing any remaining uncertainty. Grumpy barely cleared the doorway as the slab rammed home with a booming echo.

Once James took count of everyone and saw they had all made it, he glanced around, taking in the narrow passage they now stood in. The torches here were also burning, and the tunnel descended out of sight. "Why separate us?"

Grumpy looked characteristically grim, "Easier to pick us off that way… might want to be on the lookout for more attempts to separate us further…"

Rumpelstiltskin ran his hands along the stone that had separated them from the rest of the group, "Dammit!" He turned to see that Belle was looking down the long tunnel behind them. "This is very bad. Belle, I'm sorry… I thought I had this under control but I've obviously underestimated her."

Belle shook her head, "Don't blame yourself; you couldn't have known this was going to happen."

Rumpelstiltskin ran a hand through his long brown hair, "I shouldn't… I shouldn't have brought you here."

Belle set a hand on his shoulder and gave him a reassuring smile, "I was coming ether way; you never had a choice in the matter. Come on, then; we aren't dead yet."

Rumpelstiltskin nodded, giving her a weak smile in return, "Of course, you're right."

They turned and walked down the narrow hallway, occasionally stopping to listen ahead but hearing nothing. Finally they exited to yet another lit room, this one furnished with several tables and chairs of gold and velvet, all covered in a thick layer of dust.

At the far end of one of the tables sat a tall, dark woman who lifted a glass of wine toward Rumpelstiltskin as they came in. "Finally… I was wondering how long I would have to wait."

Rumpelstiltskin's face paled and he froze in his tracks. Morgan de Fay smiled, "What else did you expect? Have a seat; I'm sure your dying to find out what I have in store for you."


	21. The Bogeyman

After they had all spent a long few moments staring at each other, Rumpelstiltskin finally took a seat, not even noticing the large amount of dust on the chair until it billowed out from under him. Morgan de Fay smiled at him in false concern, "My apologies, but these rooms have not been used in centuries; since the early days of the immortal sorcerer Merlin himself."

Rumpelstiltskin glanced over at Belle, who also sat down at the long table across from him. He returned his attention to Morgan, "What ever became of Merlin then… haven't heard of him since he left ravaged Camelot."

Morgan's eyes widened a moment and then narrowed to slits. "That's right; you are far older than you appear, and privy to a wealth of information that is none of your business. Merlin is gone forever, and now the role of Master Wizard falls on…"

"You," Rumpelstiltskin finished for her. "But you don't have anywhere near the understanding of magic that he did."

Morgan stood quickly, her eyes flashing with rage, "You have little to say in that regard, powerless as you are! You may know an assortment of things, but if you think I am any less a sorcerer than my father was, you obviously know nothing of me!"

Morgan de Fay seemed to take a few moments to gather her composure, "As much use as you might be to be, with that wealth of knowledge rattling about in your head, I wouldn't want to keep him waiting."

Rumpelstiltskin rose and gestured, doing his best to hide his growing trepidation, "After you, your highness."  
>Morgan laughed as she gestured back, "I'll not turn my back to the man who was known as the Fiend. I insist that you two continue into the next passage, we have only a short ways to travel."<p>

Morgan waved her hand and a stone slab slid aside to reveal a new dark corridor, and Rumpelstiltskin glanced at Belle as he moved forward, sharing her look of worry. He wanted to run from this, but Belle would be hurt and he couldn't risk her, so the former wizard marched forward, his stomach turning in dread of what he expected to be ahead.

Grumpy halted, flexing his fists in frustration as he glared at the floor. The others stopped as well and James motioned for him to continue, "Let's not give in to despair; we need to find the others!"

Grumpy shook his head, not moving. "There's no point in rushing off that way; it won't go where we need to be. I've been watching the way these tunnels work since we first came down here and I know that's the wrong way."

Abigail wrung her hands, her face pained by the news, "Then what are we going to do? We have to stop whatever she has got planned with Belle!"

Snow nodded, "And Rumpelstiltskin; something tells me it's more likely she's after him."

James leaned against the wall, shaking his head, "I… I don't know. Unless there was a secret passage back the way we came…."

Grumpy grunted a negative, "I've been looking for one, only reason I didn't stop us sooner. We may not have much time…" Grumpy gave the others a grim smile, "…wanna do something risky?"

####  
>The room Morgan de Fay pushed them into was lit by a sickly green glow that emanated from a familiar object that rested on a pedestal in the center of the room. Rumpelstiltskin could not mistake it for what it was now, his voice a whisper, "Merlin's Globe."<p>

Morgan gave him a menacing smile, "Indeed… do you wish to go take it? I won't stop you…"

Rumpelstiltskin frowned, remembering what had happened to Baba Yaga, "There are people inside of it."

The look on Morgan's face as she looked at the orb was equal parts awe, fear, and malice, "Yes, but the people who now live within my father's artifact are the least of your concerns."

Rumpelstiltskin turned to her suddenly, "Your father… he's in there isn't he? There is still time to set things right; he will forgive what you've done.

Surely this is not the legacy you wish to leave your son?"

Morgan opened her mouth and then closed it, for a moment her veneer of control slipping, her eyes given to an instant of what might have been doubt. Her features hardened, however, and she wagged a finger at him, "I am not another puppet for you to toy with, Fiend. I have not come so far to turn away just as my task nears completion."

"Yes." A voice assailed their minds, as the ball before them glowed more brightly, and one of the shadows on the wall behind it took the shape of a man, as it moved in concert with the sinister sound that they heard. "Our deal is done. Rumpelstiltskin returns to me."

Rumpelstiltskin shook at the sight of the shadow, his shadow. The laugh he heard was all too familiar and his worst fear spoke to him in a jovial sing-song voice, "What's wrong… you act as if you don't want to see me…"

Belle felt overpowering waves of anxiety come over her, and she fought to understand the source of her concern. The only time she had ever felt so afraid was when she had been lost in the woods as a little girl. The way the old trees had groaned in the night had terrified her then, and suddenly this shadow evoked that same childish dread. "What is this?"

Rumpelstiltskin's face was as white as a sheet, and he whispered, "The Dark One. The Bogeyman, who scratches at the window of your dreams and rides your nightmare."

A green fog coalesced around Merlin's crystal ball and swept through the room, quickly making it difficult to see what was solid and what was shadow.

They were all aware that the personification of all fear stood mere feet from them, but the fog gave them only glimpses of the horror that stared back.  
>"Correct…" The Dark One spoke, and now the voice was most certainly there with them. "We were not done. You murdered my former host and until I see fit you shall belong to me. That is the deal."<p>

Rumpelstiltskin shook his head, "I found true love; our arrangement was nullified by the most powerful magic there is!"

The Bogeyman roared, and everyone in the room including Morgan de Fay screamed in fright. A wisp of fog moved to show a fanged mouth; the creature was smiling. "You slipped free, but you are not freed from the contract you signed in blood…"

Rumpelstiltskin shouted at the beast fearfully, "I willingly agreed to nothing!"

Unseen tendrils moved through the fog and Belle shrieked as Rumpelstiltskin was lifted into the air. The Dark One's voice boomed through the air, sounding not unlike Rumpelstiltskin's own voice, "You were told you would have to plunge a dagger into a man, and you did it, didn't you? How much more concrete a handshake do you want? A deal's a deal…"

Morgan stepped forward and the beast paused, "Oh great Dark One… speaking of deals; are you now satisfied with me? If so, I would like very much for my loyalty to be repaid with your fealty to my son, now that you will have a body to walk about in."

Rumpelstiltskin dropped to the ground gasping for air as Belle rushed to his side. They all felt more than saw the massive entity shift to face Morgan. A note of false sympathy echoed in the voice that spoke, "You see, Rumpelstiltskin? It is so very important to read the contract, isn't it?"

Morgan shrank back, her eyes wide with fear, but the mists closed in around her, "Milord… have I displeased you?"

The foul mists caressed her cheek and Morgan cried out in pain as the voice laughingly replied, "Oh no! Quite the contrary, dearie! You are strong, and will bleed terror for me for a long time before your heart gives out…"

Morgan gasped, "But my son! At least… at least assure me that my sacrifice has secured his future?" Morgan fell to her knees, her face still pleading and her hands raised in supplication.

The Dark One laughed again, "Yes! YES! Once I am done punishing Rumpelstiltskin for his arrogance by forcing him to slaughter everyone he's ever loved…"

Rumpelstiltskin coughed out at that, rising shakily to his knees, "…No!"

Again with the insane laughter, a hint of a smiling maw in the mists, "…then I will discard him and take your son as my new host. He should be a strong young man by then, and I will need to … prepare… his mind."

Morgan shuddered at the malice before her, tears streaking her cheeks, "No, please! I have served!"

The creature moved closer, so that a horrid snout could be seen inches from Morgan's face, long wicked teeth curled in a crooked smile, "More the fool you are. I now consider our pact completed."

"I contest it!"

Everyone turned to see that the door to the hall now stood open, and Mordred stood within its frame holding a sword high at the irresolute form inside. "As lord of this domain I dismiss any deals made with you by my mother!"

The mist rolled forward as laughter bellowed down the halls, "This woman made a pact to slay her own father with me; your grandfather… you cannot undo what has already been done."

Belle helped Rumpelstiltskin to his feet and they both saw Aladdin wink at them from the hallway behind Mordred. Rumpelstiltskin shook his head, "Of course a boy would fetch a boy prince to face problems of this magnitude…"

Mordred straightened, puffing out his chest as he stood his ground, "King! I am king of this realm and that is why no deal stands unless made under my authority. Whatever she has done she is my mother, and I'm not leaving without her!"

Morgan sensed the rising tide of rage within the mists and screamed at her son, "Run, Mordred run!"

Mordred heeded her warning just in time, narrowly avoiding an unseen blow that ripped solid granite from the door where he had been standing as he backpedaled, "Oh, my!"

Aladdin grabbed the wide-eyed youth and pulled him down the tunnel, the mists rushing out after them. Aladdin could be heard shouting admonitions as they fled, "You act as if you've never fought a monster before… do you even know how to use a sword?!"

Rumpelstiltskin moved to follow but Belle grabbed at him, "Are you insane? That thing wants you!"

Rumpelstiltskin was shocked, surprised to hear such an argument for his own fears from Belle of all people, "But it'll kill them! I can't just let them die for me!"

Belle shook her head, pulling on him to follow her down the hallway in the opposite direction, "No, you big dummy! Just follow me!"

The tunnel ended abruptly at a set of doorways with no doors that led to small rooms to each side. Mordred turned, raising his sword as the fog moved toward them much more slowly now; after all, they had nowhere left to run to.

Aladdin leapt forward with a fearsome battle cry, waving a knife around in a fashion that suggested he knew as much about combat as Mordred did.

The fog rolled to a stop and then suddenly retreated, moving more and more rapidly away from them.

Aladdin whooped with joy as he gave chase, "We've got him on the ropes now! I'll show you how to fight a monster!"

Mordred ran after him, concern in his voice, "I hate to ruin your fun, but I don't think it's running from us…"

"Move faster!"

Belle glared back at Morgan de Fay as the raven-haired woman urged them on, "He has a bad leg; we're going as fast as we can. Can't you slow it with a spell or something?"

Rumpelstiltskin shook his head as he pushed himself to run faster, acutely aware of the risk of falling he took moving at such a fast, awkward gait.

"The Bogeyman is raw fear-stuff, there's nothing to target or hit, either physically or magically."

Belle shook her head, "I don't understand; why is it obsessed with you?"

Rumpelstiltskin shot her a pained look, frowning, "I was the best host it has ever had… a real coward who allowed that monster to hurt the people around him all the time."

At last they arrived where they had been running to; the stone wall that had separated them from their friends earlier. Morgan approached and waved her hand, smiling as the stone rumbled and moved from their path. An invisible force suddenly smashed her violently into the wall, and she slumped to the floor limply.

Belle and Rumpelstiltskin looked back to see that the mist had caught up with them. Two brightly glowing eyes stared from its depths with seething hatred, "Your story ends here."


	22. Glass Walls

Rumpelstiltskin took Belle's hand and squeezed it as the two of them stared at the veiled monstrosity that peered out at them with malevolent glowing eyes. "I'm sorry… for everything." He kissed her gently upon the forehead and turned to move toward the beast.

Belle snatched at his coat but he pulled away, "No, don't!"

Rumpelstiltskin faced the Dark One squarely, "Take me then; I'll go willingly if you promise to spare those I love."

The green mist darkened in hue, and the voice within sounded less his own now, and far more sinister. "No. I'll not have you this way…"

The mist receded somewhat and Rumpelstiltskin turned to give Belle a joyful look; he had conquered fear with his willingness to sacrifice himself, and now the Bogeyman did not want him! But the thought had barely passed as Belle was lifted from her feet, disappearing into yet more of the mists that now surrounded him.

Rumpelstiltskin reached out blindly, swinging his arms desperately to grab a hold of her as Belle screamed her fear. The mist enveloped him completely, and hideous laughter filled the air to match the sounds of whatever torture the Dark One administered to Belle. "No, stop! Please!"

The cruel voice returned closely now, and Rumpelstiltskin lashed out viciously in his frustration, meeting only air and falling as his bad leg encountered a large piece of fallen masonry. "That is more like it; now you see how hopeless such false courage is… I will rip her apart as you listen, and you will instead beg to be taken…"

"Halt, monster!"

The mists shifted, and Rumpelstiltskin could barely make out Mordred in the hall behind them, Merlin's Globe held tightly in his raised fist. Aladdin stood next to him giving the Bogeyman a mean scowl, waving his dagger about menacingly.

Rumpelstiltskin heard a quiet thud nearby and he scrambled to find Belle where the creature had dropped her. He brought his head close to her chest, allowing himself to breathe again when he heard her heart was still beating.

The Dark One's voice resonated down the hallway, amusement in its voice, "It is rare for anyone to threaten me. You truly don't want the power that orb possesses or it would have taken you when you took hold of it, so what power do you hope to wield against me?"

Mordred looked at his mother lying still on the floor nearby and his eyes glistened as he shouted at the monster, "How about the power of surprise!?"

With that he slammed the orb down, shattering it upon the stone floor at his feet.

The Bogeyman bellowed so loudly everyone had to cover their ears as the pieces of the orb flew in every direction, "NOOOOOOO!"

Aladdin whooped with joy at the act, "Surprise!" His laughter quickly disappeared as roiling mists took them all, surrounding them until every direction was murky nothingness, and then…

Rumpelstiltskin awoke. Or rather he had the impression that he woke, not remembering when he had fallen asleep and wondering if perhaps he still might be dreaming. After all, his surrounding certainly suggested a dream.

Rumpelstiltskin floated in an empty void that was lighted dimly, but no matter how he looked at it, the source of the light always seemed to be somewhere else than where he thought it might be, causing him to think that the light source must be circling him at all times. Or perhaps he was spinning but unaware of it?

Clouds drifted past him, giving the impression he was high in the sky, but when he looked down there was no ground, and when he looked up it looked the same as down. Rumpelstiltskin felt it then, and the familiarity of it jarred his senses. He was within Merlin's Globe. They probably all were.

"Fool boy," he said to himself, "you can't just smash an artifact of that nature and expect it to actually break…"

After a few moments of concentration Rumpelstiltskin willed himself to float forward. Well, in the direction that seemed forward, since he knew forward was now meaningless. He let his eyes lose focus, not trying to see which way he headed and instead trying to focus on what he wanted to reach; Belle.

After floating about for a time he gave up the effort, realizing it was possible she wasn't here with him, perhaps having escaped the orb's pull by being unconscious. Instead he focused on someone else he had met only briefly once, hoping his strained memory would be enough…

Suddenly Rumpelstiltskin found himself in a large, spacious manor, huge bookshelves lining each wall. The furniture was sparse, making room for yet more piles of books, and a warm fire burned in a nearby hearth. An old dog warmed itself on a rug before that fire, and an even older-looking man reclined in a chair there, watching Rumpelstiltskin with a mild look of caution.

Rumpelstiltskin approached and bowed, "Master Merlin, I don't know if you remember me, but I'm…"

The grizzled old man finished for him as he stroked his long white beard, "Rumpelstiltskin. I do not forget a face, but your spirit has changed; you are another man now."

Rumpelstiltskin smiled, "I'm honored. Master wizard, I'm here to inform you that the life you are living here is fiction; you are even now…"

Merlin waved a weathered hand at him dismissively as he once more finished his sentence, "Inside of my globe. I am aware."

Rumpelstiltskin blinked, confused by Merlin's indifference, "You are… allowing yourself to remain a prisoner of this illusion? Why?"

Merlin grunted out a humorless laugh and rose stiffly from his chair, loving to a nearby table to pour a glass of dark liquid from an antique pitcher. "Why do you think I created this realm? I knew…" The elderly man paused, sorrow flashing over his eyes for a moment, "I have the gift of vision, even more so than you, and I knew my daughter would one day betray me."

Rumpelstiltskin stood there watching as Merlin poured a second cup and offered it to him. "Elderberry wine, tastes like a dream."

Rumpelstiltskin shook his head, declining the offer, "That's because it is a dream! I… I'm starting to see why you would choose to just rot here like this, but…"

Merlin shot him a glare, "But what?"

Rumpelstiltskin gave him a plaintive look, "But your daughter needs you, and despite her betrayal you're going to help me finish the job your grandson started and free your family from this gilded prison."

Merlin snorted, "And what makes you so confident that this is what I'm going to do?"

Rumpelstiltskin gave him a half-smile, "Because you could have done a hundred things to exact revenge on her for her transgression, but instead you made yourself comfortable here; exiled yourself." Rumpelstiltskin moved closer, catching Merlin's gaze, "You gave up on her, but she might have surprised you."

The two men stood staring at each other quietly for long moments and finally Rumpelstiltskin saw something start to dawn again in Merlin's impossibly old eyes; hope. Merlin kicked the dog on the floor, waving at Rumpelstiltskin excitedly, "Merduke, get off of your lazy ass! Hop to it, boy, we have an escape to make!"

The sudden energy of the scrawny mage caught Rumpelstiltskin by surprise, rushing to catch up with him as Merlin sprinted across the room, waving his hand and smudging their surroundings, so that the walls and carpet bled together like paint on a canvas, and the room spun crazily into nothingness.

The mottled dog got up slowly, but hastened as their surroundings started to change. Merduke seemed annoyed, but was likely accustomed to the spontaneity of his master. Rumpelstiltskin was astounded at what he watched; at his height he never could have shifted things here as Merlin did, the man was an artist with magic.

He looked back to see that as Merlin dispelled the myriad false colors of the world they resided in, a great black void opened behind, or perhaps under, them. He recognized the evil he had seen when Baba Yaga had first wrapped her hands around the ball, and finally understood what it was.

Rumpelstiltskin looked to Merlin as they continued to move, "It corrupted this place when it put you here."

Merlin shook his head, "Close; it corrupted this place when it made it its home."

Rumpelstiltskin's eyes widened, "The Bogeyman resides in your orb? Why?"

Merlin went on to explain as they ran, flew, fell towards their destination. "Because when you kicked him out he had nowhere to go; seems your affair with true love caught him by surprise! He must have been so convinced you would choose his power over your love he didn't have a real backup plan."

Rumpelstiltskin looked at him with curiosity, "Then the Bogeyman is a man?"

Merlin waved off the notion, "He, she, it… the Dark One is none of these things, not person or object. That's why it needs us to survive…" Merlin winked at him, "And the reason it's so mad at you isn't a secret to me… you nearly killed it."

Rumpelstiltskin's jaw dropped, "I… it lied!"

Merlin rolled his eyes at Rumpelstiltskin as he turned to what looked like a giant wall of ice. "Imagine that; evil incarnate lied to you…"

Rumpelstiltskin placed a hand against the wall and recognized it for what it really was. "Glass…"

Merlin nodded, not taking his eyes from the wall, "Yes, we have come to the physical border of our metaphysical prison."

Rumpelstiltskin's brow furrowed, "How is that possible?"

Merlin laughed, "Try not to overthink it. There isn't really glass here, it's just all your mind is capable of perceiving. Your psyche is telling you that you can't go any further."

Rumpelstiltskin looked back over his shoulder worriedly, noting that the void was rapidly consuming all of the remaining light within their isolated world. "We are trapped?"

Merlin slapped him on the back heartily and laughed a bit manically, "Only if you allow your psyche to tell you what you can and can't do!" With that, the aging wizard threw himself through the wall, and Rumpelstiltskin shouted soundlessly as the wall shattered where the sorcerer hit it.

The air around him billowed through the hole Merlin made with such ferocity that Rumpelstiltskin had to hunch down, or at least hunch in the direction he thought down might be. Rumpelstiltskin thought this approach to magic a bit reckless, but he supposed they had no other real alternative.

He readied himself to launch through the opening Merlin had made, but something in the rapidly encroaching shadows caught his eye. A set of sad grey eyes stared out at him from a figure who sat there. Rumpelstiltskin hesitated a moment more, and then he reached out his hand, "Hurry. There isn't any time."

Rumpelstiltskin looked around him, noting that he now stood in the exact place he had before Merlin's Orb had taken him. Mordred had the cracked artifact clenched tightly in his fist, and a very worried Belle rushed over to wrap her arms around him, "Oh thank the heavens you are alright!"

Rumpelstiltskin hugged her back tightly, watching the orb in Mordred's hand. It had turned solid black, and Mordred looked more than a little uncomfortable holding it. Merlin patted him on the back, "I'm proud of you, grandson. The world needs nobility like yours. Hold onto it for now; as long as you threaten to destroy his home completely, the Bogeyman does not dare try anything."

Merlin approached his daughter; Morgan le Fay stood off to the side, her eyes downcast and her hands clasped in front of her. The wizened old man simply stared at her for a moment, and then extended his arms. Morgan rushed into them, sobbing as he pulled her close. Merlin's own eyes watered as he responded to her tears, "I forgive you."

Mordred shrugged Aladdin off of his shoulder with a look of irritation, "No, for the last time; you cannot hold it."

Aladdin looked disappointed but then shrugged, sauntering over to Rumpelstiltskin to question him, "What was it like in there? Did you feel very small?"

Rumpelstiltskin started to reply when the wall behind the erupted into a shower of stone and debris. Aladdin leapt backwards and Merlin raised his hands defensively as Grumpy coughed and waved at the dust. He held a mining pick in his hands, the rest of their friends rushing into the hallway with weapons drawn.

James observed everyone and raised an eyebrow, "Um… still need rescuing?"

Rumpelstiltskin walked down the small path leading from the hut until he arrived where Belle waited for him. Her face was marked with relief. He smiled and kissed her, "I told you; she had no reason to hurt me, and was quite pleased when I gave her what was promised."

Belle shook her head, "The things I've seen, and what you yourself have said; I half expected her to eat you in the way of thanks."

Rumpelstiltskin shook his head and pulled her close as they walked. "Well as it turns out, she still ended up owing me one. I don't plan on ever returning here, and I don't see her being a problem for us in the future."

Belle frowned, "Still trying to practice future sight without magic?"

Rumpelstiltskin smiled, "Maybe I should, after all, I foresee something for the two of us, and I am certain of its truth."

Belle turned to him, raising an eyebrow, "And what would that be?"

Rumpelstiltskin bowed gracefully as he smoothly removed a ring from his pocket and dropped to one knee. He offered the glittering jewelry to her and smiled confidently, "I see us married and happy, forever."

Baba Yaga opened the small box Rumpelstiltskin had given her, removing its contents carefully. The end to their arrangement had been wordless; he had simply left the object with no strings attached. That the man would save a creature like Baba Yaga from a fate crueler than death, she could not fathom.

For this reason, she had said nothing, and allowed him to leave alive and intact, despite the fact that he had more thoroughly crossed her than any other living thing had done.

Baba finally looked down to the black orb that trembled in her hands, and she smiled as she gently caressed the globe, "Come now, my sweet; no reason to be afraid…"


End file.
